Bag it!

Executive Director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority, Audley Gordon, has announced that stiffer fines will be coming for those who litter the streets.

The announcement was made on Wednesday at the ‘Bag It’ initiative that was launched in May Pen, Clarendon.

“Bigger fines are coming, we have passed the discussion stage now where there will soon be bigger fines,” he shared, adding that litterbugs will “feel hurt in your pocket when you dutty up Jamaica”.

Commenting on the ‘Bag It’ initiative, Gordon said it was borne out of the experience of working the towns across Jamaica where they have seen a lot of littering.

Gordon said while the towns are swept at 4:00 in the mornings, by four hours later, it would seem that the roadways had not been cleaned.

He said the agency was forced to come up with another strategy to try and control the wanton littering that takes place in the towns across Jamaica.

AIM OF THE INITIATIVE

Regional Operations Manager for SPM Waste Management, Edward Muir, who led the charge on Wednesday in distributing bags and stickers to taxi operators and vendors, shared with The Gleaner that ‘Bag It’ aims to encourage residents to properly containerise their garbage.

“We believe that it is timely now, it’s the hurricane season, and we chose May Pen as it’s one of those town centres that are flat, heavily populated on a daily basis,” he noted, stressing that partnerships will be done with the Clarendon Municipal Corporation, taxi operators and the vendors.

Muir said the initiative is not the only one being done to put a dent in the improper disposal of garbage as last year ‘drum at the gate’ was launched in Mandeville.

He shared that that initiative saw Gordon partnering with Hardware & Lumber to issue $1.5 million worth of drums for garbage across the island.

“Those drums, those bottoms will be bored, and what we do, we encourage residents to use the drums, and what it does, it allow us to move quicker in a community to ensure that we cover as much schedule as possible,” Muir stated.

Improper disposal of garbage has kept the NSWMA workers busy, resulting in managers having to bring in workers from other locations to assist.

“Just by the May Pen roundabout every single day we collect no less than four to five bags of garbage out there, and bear in mind, you don’t have anybody living out there,” said Muir, pointing to the culprits – those coming off the highway, who litter and throw garbage through the window.

Muir has reminded the public of the dangers of improper disposal of garbage, especially in light of the hurricane season which runs from June 1 to November 30.

editorial@gleanerjm.com