THE National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) yesterday said it was pleased with the accomplishments of its anti-litter pilot project a day after the ticketing system was implemented in Kingston, Montego Bay and Portmore.

“We had a successful day in terms of deployment of personnel,” community relations manager at the NSWMA told the Observer. “In the two regions we warned 150 persons and issued six tickets, mostly for urinating in public,” he said.

The initiative, which mimics the traffic system in allowing offenders under the Solid Waste Act 21 days to pay their fines or go to court, makes discarding litter – including human waste – a ticketable offence with fines ranging from $2,000 to $10,000.

However, Richards said the emphasis for the state-run garbage collection agency was not about collecting fees from fines but rather one of compliance.

“It really isn’t about ticketing. If we don’t collect one dime but people comply, then we would have achieved 100 per cent of what we’re looking for. The whole idea is to alert the public…because we are trying to bring back public order,” he said.

And the fight to regain a sense of civic order, according to Richards, cannot be shortlived.

“It is not going to be a nine-day wonder. It will be forever and forever,” he warned yesterday.