Clarke says 3,813 permanent posts to be created at NSWMA

Cabinet has given approval for 3,813 new posts at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and its four regional companies.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke made the announcement while closing the 2024-25 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

“That is across the National Solid Waste Management Authority – the MPM Waste Management Authority, NEPM Waste Management Authority, SPM Waste Management and WPM Waste Management Authority.

“At the moment, there are only 269 posts; everybody else is on contract. Sanitation workers, truck drivers, route supervisors, enforcement officers, mechanics. All of the working people in the NSWMA and its subsidiaries for the past 30 years, approximately, were … on contract,” he said.

Clarke said that the permanent posts have been created, and in the upcoming fiscal year, “we will make workers in the NSWMA and their subsidiaries permanent.

Clarke reiterated the administration’s commitment to addressing the issue of contract employment.

“In last year’s Budget presentation, I spent a considerable amount of time speaking about the need to transition from contract employment to permanent employment … . This is a problem, and it has been around for [approximately] 30 years where people are employed temporarily, have no security of tenure, and can’t get a mortgage … don’t have pension on their retirement.

“The policy position of this Government is that we are determined, over … a three-year period, to address this problem. The process of addressing the problem is challenging and long … there is a lot of paperwork that has to be done,” Clarke pointed out.

The authority, which is an agency under the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, provides solid waste management services across the island to safeguard public health, while helping to create an environment that is healthy and aesthetically pleasing for residents and visitors to enjoy.

– JIS