Desmond Panton, managing director of Key Motors, hands the keys to one of 12 new garbage trucks procured by the ministry to minister of state in the Ministry of Local Government and Environment Harry Douglas at last Tuesday's handing over ceremony at the ministry's Hagley Park Road offices. Looking on is acting executive director of the NSWMA, Christopher Powell. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

THE Local Government ministry has acquired 12 additional garbage trucks at a cost of US$864,693 (Ja$5.6 million).
Each of the trucks, blue compactors of the 2007 Hyundai HD 65 series, measures four cubic metres and can hold roughly three tonnes of waste at any one time.

The trucks, which will be in service this week, were handed over to the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) at the ministry's Hagley Park Road offices last Tuesday. According to the waste disposal agency, five will stay in Kingston, three will be deployed to Montego Bay, and the towns of Mandeville and Ocho Rios will each get two.
Despite the size of the new trucks, which are smaller than the usual 18 cubic metres, the NSWMA expects its garbage collection operations in these areas to improve.

Christopher Powell, the agency's acting executive director, said the size of the trucks was the very reason they were procured.

"They should improve our operations immediately, especially in major towns which are made up of small side streets which we were having difficulty getting into because the big trucks can't go there," he told the Observer after the handing over.
"They were built to go down the lanes," added NSWMA's fleet manager Astley Todd.

Harry Douglas, state minister in the ministry of Local Government and Environment, said the trucks would enhance the agency's capability and efficiency.

"The presentation of these trucks to the NSWMA is a symbol of the commitment of the government of Jamaica to keeping our environment clean and healthy," he said, noting that government spent $1.7 billion to manage the 1.2 tonnes of solid waste produced in the country last year.

He said a good percentage of the money was used for cleaning litter off the streets and from public places, and reminded persons that improper garbage disposal could cost them.

"I must commend the NSWMA ...on the anti-ticketing system," he said. "Once you litter or in any way deface or damage public property or spaces, you may be fined as much as $10,000 per incident," the junior minister said.

The minister also warned the waste disposal agency to ensure that drivers are trained to operate the vehicles.

Few takers for rescheduled Stars 'R' Us concert

Mas Camp for Asylum anniversary

A voice from the inside?