‘The worst it has ever been’

WESTERN BUREAU:

HANOVER’S RESIDENTS have now been joined by their local government representatives in condemning the unreliable manner in which the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA)/Western Parks and Markets carry out their responsibility of collecting and disposing of garbage in the parish.

Mayor of Lucea and chairman of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), Sheridan Samuels, did not mince words at a recent HMC meeting at which he described the garbage collection situation in the parish as “the worst it has ever been”.

“I am not impressed with the level of garbage collection in the parish, as it is leaving the parish in an awful-looking situation. The trucks that are being sent to the parish, as them reach them break down,” Samuels lamented, as the NSWMA representative attending the meeting, Rose Erskine, the public cleansing inspector for Eastern Hanover, was about to make a presentation.

Erskine, while acknowledging that her agency is aware of the less than appropriate situation surrounding garbage collection in Hanover, argued that they are intent on fixing the situation.

“There are things that we can do and we are committed to doing them to remedy the situation,” Erskine stated.

She mentioned that the age of the fleet now in service, and the frequent breakdown of some of the units, are affecting the productivity levels of the NSWMA, adding that it is hoped that within a short while the residents of the parish will see a marked difference as there are efforts being undertaken within the NSWMA to correct the situation.

A HEALTH HAZARD

Councillor for the Green Island division in the HMC, Marvell Sewell, expressed scepticism, stating that he has heard such promises before. He emphasised that the garbage dumpsters in his division are in a state of overflow and are a health hazard.

Sewell said he had to call the NSWMA public cleansing inspector for Western Hanover as recently as March 6 to ask of him to send a truck to clear one particular dumpster along the Green Island main road, because of the unsightly condition and garbage pile-up.

“People in the communities have had to resort to burning their garbage on a regular basis, because of the irregularity of the NSWMA collection schedule in the western sections of the parish,” Sewell stated.

Checks by The Gleaner in areas such as Lot in Orange Bay, Cave Valley, March Town and Green Island, revealed a number of overflowing garbage receptacles and piles of packaged garbage at the gateway of several homes.

One resident said she is fed-up with the delinquent approach of the NSWMA.

“Me stop put my garbage at my gate because only the dogs them collecting that, so me take it to one of the dumpsters in the community, where occasionally community members have to light it on fire to get rid of the scent and the garbage itself,” she stated.

Meanwhile, deputy mayor and councillor for the Sandy Bay division, Andria Dehaney-Grant, said she was advised that garbage compactor trucks are being bought for the country.

“I am hoping and praying that a promise made that when those trucks arrive some will be sent to Hanover, because for far too long I think that our parish has been left behind,” she stated.

“So, I am hoping that going forward, we (in Hanover) will have a better look in terms of garbage collection,” she emphasised.

Checks made by The Gleaner in the Lot area, as recently as Wednesday, revealed that residents are still burning their garbage in the concrete receptacles, as no garbage collection has been done in that area for over three weeks.