NSWMA needs to triple garbage trucks for Portmore
Published:Thursday | May 5, 2022 | 12:11 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica’s state-run garbage-collection agency says it is operating at a third of the required capacity to serve the disposal needs of Portmore.
That’s a major concern for residents of the fast-developing residential and commercial area that is slated to become Jamaica’s 15th parish.
The sprawling southern St Catherine community, with more than 100,000 residents and thousands more commuting workers, has been dogged, over the years, by complaints of inconsistent garbage collection.
Portmore requires a minimum of 12 trucks, Audley Gordon, executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), said in a recent Gleaner interview. Currently, the NSWMA deploys up to four units there.
The truck shortfall in Portmore is emblematic of a national collection crisis, with Gordon revealing that only 65 reliable units are deployed islandwide, less than half the 150 he believes would be optimal for servicing Jamaica’s 63 constituencies.
That deficit presents grave public-health and aesthetic hazards - a lament that is widely echoed across the country, with the state agency and municipal officials bearing the brunt of criticism.
The executive director acknowledged that the truck shortage causes garbage to “double up on you”.
“We do have a problem, a huge problem. We are racing against the clock to get these 50 trucks that we are procuring,” he said.
The local government and rural development ministry expects to receive an additional 50 compactor trucks to boost collection across the island.
A sum of $1.8 billion had been budgeted in the 2022-23 Estimates of Expenditure for the procurement.
Gordon is optimistic that the NSWMA, which also doubles as industry regulator, will receive the trucks at the back end of 2022 or early next year.
“We’re juggling the few trucks we have the best we can, but the truth is, we really need to have a certain number of reliable trucks every day for us to stay on top of the garbage,” he said.
“In some areas, we are not doing too badly, but I would say we are not doing well in too many areas. We are not comfortable where we are.”