Garbage pile-up a national health crisis, bemoans public inspector
Published:Friday | November 11, 2022 | 5:57 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
With mounting concerns about inadequate garbage collection and rat infestation across the island, Jamaica Association of Public Health Inspectors President Michael Myles says the health crisis demands urgent attention.
Myles said the situation could have a potentially devastating health impact despite the Government’s repeated promise that 50 new garbage trucks will soon arrive in the country to complement the current fleet of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
“We are experiencing a national public-health crisis as it relates to solid-waste management. To have an effective system, we need proper storage, collection, and disposal of our solid waste, and that is an indicator of a healthy community and country,” said Myles.
“Currently, public-health inspectors are mobilising the communities and encouraging them to properly store their solid waste. However, the removal of solid waste and containment of solid waste is a problem,” he said.
Myles acknowledged that some citizens have resorted to burning garbage inside the waste-collection receptacles or improperly dump it as they grapple with the crisis.
“When you travel along the roadways, you will see significant increase in illicit dumping, the pile-ups along the curbs and in the gullies, which is a serious problem due to the odour problem from that, and the attraction of animals and proliferation of rodents and other pests such as flies. This requires a collective and united will to act from the citizens and the collection system at the local board of health and the local government,” said Myles.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Parliament on November 1 that $5 million would be allocated for members of parliament to address garbage-collection issues in their respective constituencies.
Ras Dias, who operates a clothing store in Cousins Cove, Hanover, said his establishment has been repeatedly damaged by rats drawn to the area by an overflowing garbage skip close to his business place.
“It was the community made up the money and built the skip, but we need to make it move go somewhere else because is pure rat it a harbour, and sometime it stink, and I can’t even open up my shop. The rats digging down the side of my shop, and I tried to put cement there, but they still find a way to dig down the whole thing,” said the frustrated businessman. “If the skip empty today, by weekend it full again. The dogs come and tear it out, water come and mess it up, and it’s just not good.”
Similar tales of woe have arisen in many other sections of the island, including major towns such as Spanish Town and Port Antonio.
At the last St James Municipal Corporation meeting last month, the NSWMA admitted that there was an increased waste-collection backlog in 76 districts in St James during September, up from 42 in August. It noted that both commercial and residential garbage was now being burnt or dumped in nearby drains, rivers, and at illegal sites.
Myles is urging business operators to consider using private collection services to properly dispose of waste.