Editorial | Give us a clean city, Mr Mayor

Sewage flowing in downtown Kingston communities has become such a commonplace occurrence it does not even merit a news story these days. It only becomes news when it affects institutions like the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH). We recently learnt that sewage has been flowing onto the compound and that discussions are ongoing between the KPH administration and the National Water Commission (NWC) to resolve the issue.

With a new mayor in town, this seems like the opportune time to make an urgent appeal for Mayor Andrew Swaby to place cleanliness and sanitation as the centrepiece of his administration. It is an absolute disgrace that a city with such a rich cultural heritage should be struggling with such high levels of pollution.

Mayor Swaby came into office on March 12, less than a month ago. But no one needs to lecture him on the woes of the nation’s capital. Mayor Swaby is well aware of them, having served as minority leader of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, and hopefully he has a plan to tackle them.

Indeed, Mayor Swaby, in his first speech after his installation, announced that solid waste management, sewage and road repairs were among his priorities. A clean, safe and healthy city is what many citizens are yearning for. It is unacceptable to see the filth that has been allowed to accumulate at various points in the nation’s capital, including some highly residential areas where garbage is being dumped indiscriminately.

NOT HAPPEN BY MAGIC

A clean, safe and healthy city will not happen by magic. Since everyone generates waste, communities have a huge part to play in reducing the eyesore and beautifying the environment. Poor waste management practices and ineffective collection systems are twin evils contributing to the rot that is seen all around. They have to be tackled with equal vigour.

Solid waste management, as we have suggested before, requires innovative and nimble management. By applying the proper techniques and strategy, the challenges, including limited resources, that are faced by the administration can be overcome. The question is: Does that level of skilful management reside in the National Solid Waste Management Authority?

It is not uncommon to see industrial waste being discarded in communities. But the perpetrators are never caught, brought before the courts, and tried for breaching the anti-litter law. So dumping continues with impunity because the offenders do not expect to be apprehended. What good are laws if they are not enforced? As we have said repeatedly, enforcement is vital and has to be relentless.

A country that has been generally successful in maintaining a ban on single-use plastic, ahead of many other counties, should be able to use that template in a national cleanliness drive to achieve the objective of having a beautiful city where people can live productive and happy lives.

Mayor Swaby has promised to hold regular town halls, which would be helpful to engage citizens and impart important information to them. This is a good thing. The Ministry of Local Government has published the telephone numbers of mayors and CEOs of all the councils. This is also a good thing. We urge citizens to use this channel to feed their concerns to their mayors.

We are depending on Mayor Swaby to show his mettle and mobilise available resources to deliver a clean city, and Kingston will thank him, for the rewards of cleanliness will be generously shared by its citizens.