Illegal dump sites costing the WPM millions

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE ILLEGAL occupation of dump sites in Westmoreland is proving to be quite a costly affair for the Western Parks and Market (WPM) Waste Management as in April alone, they had to fork out over J$2 million to clear the various sites across the parish.

Based on figures provided in the WPM Waste Management’s report at the recent monthly meeting at the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), it was outlined that a grand sum of $2,275,000 was spent clearing illegal dump sites in Llandilo, Town Head, Retirement, Belmont, and Good Hope.

In the Retirement area, the WPM said it removed 20 tipper truckloads of illegal bulky waste, incurring a cost of $700,000. In Llandilo Phase Four, which is on the outskirts of the parish capital, Savanna-La-Mar, 15 truckloads were removed at a cost of $525,000.

The report further stated that 10 tipper truckloads were removed from Town Head, costing $350, 000, while an equal amount of 10 loads was removed from Bob Pinnock Park in the Belmont area and Good Hope, costing $350,000 each.

According to Leona Bennett, WPM’s Waste Management’s senior public cleaning inspector, in April, her team was kept busy eradicating illegal dump sites in the communities of Petersfield, Sheffield, Haddo, Whithorn, and Macfield.

“These have all been successfully eradicated,” Bennett told councillors, in explaining the challenges facing her unit.

The WPM’s report on illegal dumping sites comes on the heels of a request made by Savanna-La-Mar Mayor Bertel Moore, who is also chairman of the WMC, for a comprehensive plan to stem the creation of illegal dump sites.

Bennett told the meeting that the illegal dumps remain a major challenge for her team in their quest to lift the general aesthetic of the parish.

‘The challenge to successfully eliminate them is significant as they are feeders for informal settlements, where we are unable to traverse to do house-to-house collections,” said Bennett. “As soon as we cleared them, by the time you go to Big Bridge (in Savanna-La-Mar) and come back, the garbage is there again.”

The WPM said the illegal sites are heavily used by residents in the parish, explaining that for the most part, residents would take their garbage in their private vehicles and disposed of them at these unregulated sites.

“‘Not only is it utilised by those residents in informal habitats. If I live in Whitehouse and I am traversing to Negril, I take my garbage in my truck because I know that I am passing Paradise and Llandilo. That is how the garbage is carried across the parish,” said Bennett.

In an appeal for greater co-operation from residents, Bennett said she would like to urge them to observe the garbage-collection protocols.

“We would like to ask everyone in this room, in your conversation with everyone who lives here in Westmoreland, please encourage them to containerise their waste and hold it until we get there. It’s everybody’s responsibility to keep Westmoreland clean,” said Bennett.