Take personal responsibility for garbage disposal, McKenzie urges Jamaicans

WESTERN BUREAU:

LOCAL GOVERNMENT Minister Desmond McKenzie is making a fresh appeal for Jamaicans to take personal responsibility for proper disposal of their garbage.

At the same time, he announced that his ministry will soon spearhead a national education campaign concerning new litter fines to come into effect soon.

McKenzie made the call yesterday while addressing the swearing-in ceremony for the councillors of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), held at the corporation’s headquarters in Falmouth in the parish.

Collen Gager, the councillor for the Warsop division, was returned as mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the corporation during the event, while Jonathan Bartley, the councillor for the Wakefield division, was elected as the deputy mayor.

“I want to urge supporters, and those who are sitting on the fence, I want to say to you that in order for us to have a cleaner country, all of us here in Jamaica must take personal responsibility in how we dispose of our garbage. I have said it before and I’m going to repeat it, that if we give every single community in Jamaica a garbage truck, [it is meaningless] if the minds of the Jamaican people don’t change as to how we dispose of garbage,” McKenzie said starkly.

“We are far advanced now with the new litter fines, and what we are now doing is putting together a comprehensive programme of public education so that when these new fines come, nobody can complain that they didn’t know,” McKenzie added.

“We’re going to take solid waste [education] into the communities, and we’re going to be talking to the people and stressing the importance of being a part of making Jamaica clean. I urge everybody, whether you’re green or no colour at all, to become a part of it.”

Over the years, issues of garbage disposal and waste collection have arisen in different communities across Jamaica, with residents oftentimes complaining that the National Solid Waste Management Authority [NSWMA] is not collecting garbage often enough or in a timely manner each week.

Improper waste disposal, to include throwing of garbage along the roadway or into gullies, has been cited on more than one occasion as being the cause of blocked drains, which in turn leads to flooding during heavy rains.

ILLEGAL DUMPING

Specific to Trelawny, garbage collection has been a recurring issue in the parish from as far back as 2012, with illegal dumping in the Falmouth, Salt Marsh and Duncans communities identified as a major contributing factor at that time.

Regarding the fines for improper waste disposal, consideration was previously given as far back as 2016 for a revision of the fines, which up to that time were as low as $2,000 for littering in a public space and $5,000 for disposing of garbage on another person’s premises without the owner’s consent, under the NSWMA Act.

At the same time, McKenzie dismissed any suggestion that the NSWMA has been derelict in its responsibility to clean Jamaica’s waste.

“The 50 new garbage trucks that will be coming into the country within the next couple of months will strengthen the capacity of the NSWMA. I don’t buy the argument and I will challenge anybody who says that Jamaica is dirty. Not all of Jamaica is dirty; the greater portion of Jamaica is clean,” McKenzie declared.

Meanwhile, in his address as newly returned chairman of the TMC, Gager acknowledged that illegal garbage disposal is one of the challenges his administration will have to tackle in Falmouth.

“We are fully aware of the challenges facing the township, chief of them the improper garbage disposal and collection, as well as illegal vending. But today I say, I believe these challenges create an opportunity to come together to heal and build a better, more favourable town,” said Gager.