Gov’t allocates $1.3 billion for national clean-up campaign
Published:Thursday | July 25, 2024 | 12:11 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
In a significant move to enhance national recovery efforts, the Government has allocated $1.3 billion for a comprehensive post-Beryl recovery clean-up and drain-cleaning campaign. The initiative, divided between two key agencies, aims to bolster community maintenance and infrastructure resilience across the country.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, speaking at the launch of the National Recovery Clean-Up Programme in Waterford, Portmore in St Catherine, on Wednesday, disclosed that $500 million has been allocated to the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and $800 million to the National Works Agency (NWA) to execute the National Clean-Up initiative.
“With the small level of economic growth that the country is experiencing, the Government has allocated resources to NSWMA that will contribute to the standing maintenance of communities like Portmore,” Holness disclosed, emphasising the importance of sustained community upkeep.
The NSWMA, with an addition of 100 workers and 50 trucks, bringing its fleet to 100, will focus on maintaining communities primarily through the removal of bulky waste, including old vehicles and appliances. These efforts will be facilitated by a fleet of crane and tipper trucks. Concurrently, the NWA will undertake extensive drain cleaning and maintenance to ensure proper water flow and mitigate flooding risks.
Holness highlighted the necessity of this initiative, particularly for areas like Portmore, which are established on reclaimed lands and provide a natural ecosystem where mosquitoes and other vectors thrive.
“We have made an allocation of $800 million to look at all the drains throughout Jamaica, in particular earthen drains that are blocked, and clean them,” he noted.
Portmore Mayor Leon Thomas underscored the need for a permanent team dedicated to mosquito fogging in the municipality, citing Portmore’s size as a critical factor. During his remarks, Thomas inadvertently referred to Portmore as a parish instead of a municipality, drawing approval from the prime minister and his party.
Holness seized the moment to reopen the debate on Portmore becoming a parish, aligning with Thomas’s rationale for a dedicated vector-control team.
“We want to have a dedicated team of persons assigned to Portmore to carry out vector control. We are waiting on this, and up to now, we can’t have those people trained and placed in Portmore. So when mentioning about the parish, comparing to the amount of people, we need a dedicated team to carry out vector control. That is it,” Thomas said.
Acknowledging that every parish should have a vector-control team, Holness assured Thomas that he would discuss the matter with Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton to facilitate the request for Portmore ‘parish’.