THE National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) yesterday reinstated the Riverton Meadows Trucking and Disposal Co-operative, whose firing on Wednesday led to a protest at the city’s landfill, and severely affected garbage collection in Kingston and neighbouring parishes.

Protesters were accused of setting fires at the landfill, which blackened the skies over the dump and neighbouring communities.

In the meantime, the co-operative’s chairman, Gerry Gardner, yesterday apologised to the public for the inconvenience the protest at the Riverton landfill caused.

“A breakdown in communication between the National Solid Waste Management Authority and ourselves led to our action and we regret the inconvenience caused,” Gardner said in a statement following a meeting with local government minister Portia Simpson Miller, and Alston Stewart, the executive chairman of the NSWMA.

Co-op members, claiming that a reduction in their rate was unfair and complaining about the hiring of new contractors, staged a demonstration Wednesday and blocked routes to the landfill.

The NSWMA subsequently fired the co-op but suggested that this decision was based on grievances beyond the obstruction.

Stewart, in a request for a police post at the dump, complained about the stealing of fuel, the hijacking of and diverting of trucks from the disposal site, arson, threats to staff and other forms of vandalism.

Gardener had, however, rejected that his members were involved in any such action.

Under the terms of an agreement, brokered yesterday by Simpson Miller, and signed by Stewart and Gerry Gardner, the co-operative is to assist the NSWMA with clean-up and rehabilitation works at the disposal site; establish a clear chain of reporting through its chairman and vice-chairman with the NSWMA and its contractors, and facilitate the training of the co-op members, in conjunction with the Social Development Commission (SDC) and the Department of Co-operatives and Friendly Societies.

In addition, a list of grievance procedures has been established which states that:

. Any grievance involving a member of the Riverton Co-op should at the first stage be addressed by the NSWMA;

. if unresolved at the first stage, the grievance should be referred by either the executives of the Riverton Co-op or the NSWMA, or by both parties to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport;

. before the procedure is exhausted there should be no disruption of service such as roadblocks, intimidation of NSWMA staff, the general public and any of the authority’s contractors; and

. failure to comply with the former will result in immediate termination of the Riverton Co-operative.

Stewart, before the agreement late yesterday afternoon with the Riverton co-operative, said he was working closely with the Jamaica Constabulary Force to return order to the site, but said there was no clear indication when garbage collection services would be normalised as the authority would not jeopardise the safety of its employees who were being intimidated at the site.