Dear Editor,

I read with great interest an article by Cassandra Brenton in the Sunday Observer of October 17, “The Mission of Del and D’Arcy Crooks”. These two individuals have undertaken the yeoman task through their non-governmental organisation, Protect the Environment Trust (PET), of ridding our beloved island of used and discarded plastic bottles that usually “adorn” driveways, byways, highways and the very seas we bathe in. Their efforts should be applauded and commended.

However, while the Crooks mentioned the assistance from corporate Jamaica and individuals, it was noted that their task for the collection of the bottles had become harder with limited resources at their disposal. The Crooks mentioned that the Trust had outgrown an office space that the Jamaica Observer had given them at peppercon rates and was now paying rent at Riverton Boulevard plant where they are now located.

In addition, the Crooks said, “We have one single truck that is on the road every single day for more than 12 to 16 hours a day, and it has become challenging to do all the collections…” While they saw the need and have taken upon themselves to continue to operate a business of recycling plastic bottles with little margins, having one truck which is on the road for an average of 16 hours a day to do the collections is not sustainable, and at some point it will become inoperable because of being overworked. Even though the article mentioned that the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica is PET’s main source of funding, the organisation clearly needs more assistance. Given that it has undertaken a task that should have been under the auspices of the government in the first place, I urge the government to:

(1) Subsidise the rent that the organisation is currently paying at the Riverton Boulevard plant or provide equal or suitable office place free of cost. This will allow for more resources in other areas, for example, maintenance of equipment or the single truck.

(2) Provide two additional trucks at concessionary rates with a moratorium to start repayment after one year. This will aid in (a) the timely and effective collection of the bottles (b) provide employment to more workers, given the one-year moratorium.

(3) Educate the public through the electronic and print media about the need to recycle used plastic bottles. This can be done through government’s free broadcasts.

Such help will allow for PET’s continued survival in these harsh economic times.

As noted in the article, a similar task was attempted in the 1990s by the company, Recycled for Life. The company was funded mainly by soft-drinks entities, but for whatever reason it no longer exists. Do we want another civic-minded company to suffer a similar fate?

Anthony Fagan

Portmore, St Catherine

don_gemini@yahoo.com