‘A solid waste of time’

WESTERN BUREAU:

Councillor Danree Delancy, deputy mayor of Savanna-la-Mar, says he wants the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to investigate the emergence of unauthorised dump sites in the parish, which is hurting garbage-collection efforts across the parish.

Delancy said that for more than a year, he has been asking the NSWMA to find a way to shut down an expanding illegal dump site at Hermitage in his Bethel Town Division, as well as those in other places, including cane fields. The NSWMA, he said, had only given unfulfilled promises.

“What is being said here is that in short order, the NSWMA will devise a plan to treat with illegal dump sites,” said Delancy, pointing to a two-page report under the signature of Garnet Edmondson, the state agency’s western regional operations manager.

“It’s a very weak report and I think the council deserves better,” complained Delancy at last Thursday’s meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation. “We as councillors are seeking answers for questions being asked by our constituents.”

He said that many questions asked by his constituents remain unanswered.

“The report is a solid waste of time. This not telling me anything, I want action,” he said.

NSWMA ‘dragging its feet’

The councillor charged that the NSWMA’s Western Parks and Markets, which covers the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover, and Westmoreland, keeps repeating the same activities in its monthly reports.

“They keep talking about that they are going to partner with councillors. We have long been ready to partner with the NSWMA to eradicate these illegal dump sites, but it’s the NSWMA that has been dragging its feet,” argued Delancy.

Savanna-la-Mar Mayor Bertel Moore supported Delancy’s call for action.

“I want something to be done, and I don’t mean in three months, it must be done by the time we come back to the next month’s meeting,” said Moore.

Moore described the report from NSWMA as distasteful to both the corporation and the people of the parish, saying it did not cover some critical concerns that need to be addressed.

In February, the NSWMA reported that they were not able to collect 78 loads of garbage backlog due to mechanical challenges being experienced with three of their collection units.

Since February, the situation took a turn for the worse, sparking concerns by the corporation.

editorial@gleanerjm.com