Big drop in number of trucks using landfills since $500 fee
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Alicia Dunkley
Friday, December 05, 2008
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THE National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is pushing for the registration of all private garbage collectors over fears that many are dumping refuse on the nation's streets to avoid paying the $500 user fee to use the nation's landfills.
According to executive director of the NSWMA, Joan Gordon-Webley, there has been a drastic fall in the number of units using the landfills since the introduction of the nominal fee in January.
"We noticed when we introduced the nominal fee of $500 that where we used to have 1,700 units going through the landfills, it went down to 600. So we know what is happening and we intend to bring them under the umbrella or close them down," she said.
"Many of them are collecting the solid waste and depositing it on the back streets of Jamaica. One of the reasons we are saying you must be registered is that in the registration document, you must say how much solid waste you are collecting from the individuals you collect from," the NSWMA executive director told the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament this week.
She said the NSWMA has since issued an advisory for the private collectors "to come into our offices and be registered because we are going to be saying to those who are not registered that you can't collect solid waste".
The registration of the collectors, she said, will enable the NSWMA to keep computerised records to track those who might try to beat the system.
"So we are able to put those numbers into our computers to say you must be going to our landfill ten times per month instead of five; it's not just a matter of registering, it's also a matter of calculating how much solid waste should be
coming to the landfill because you can have a legitimate person who collects ten trucks, but only two or three trucks come to the landfill," she said.
In the meantime, the NSWMA head said the authority will soon be turning its focus on business owners who fail to foot the bill for the proper disposal of their garbage.
"This is extremely important because throughout Jamaica right now there are many, many, many. Maybe half of Jamaica's business community is not paying for the collection and that is what is contributing to the place being a mess," she pointed out.
In April, Gordon-Webley said business operators islandwide would soon be required to provide the authority with proof of how they dispose of their garbage. She said persons who refuse to show proof that they were complying, could face penalties of $1 million in fines and/or up to six months imprisonment.
"In the very near future, you will see persons coming to your premises and they will be asking you kindly to show your receipt as to who has collected your solid waste, because no longer will it be accepted that you give a draw cart man the rubbish to get rid of because they are not authorised to do so," she said then.
The NSWMA collects some 730,000 of the average 900,000 tonnes of household waste that the country generates annually.
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