Help, we are being choked by a mountain of garbage!
Dear Editor,
I write you to express my deepest disappointment with the behaviour of workers employed to the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) who seem, for some untold reason, to constantly neglect the residents of Dorsetshire Avenue in Whitehall Gardens, Kingston 8.
For most of this year we have suffered from their neglect, as sometimes two whole months go by without our garbage being collected.
Their pattern of behaviour leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, a putrid smell in the air and a serious rat infestation problem.
While the collectors do come to the community on a fortnightly basis, they always collect garbage from the residents of Carlisle, Darlington, Leicester, and Swansea avenues and Watson Drive, but never seem to have the will to collect the garbage on Dorsetshire Avenue.
Most of the residents of this community are working-class, who pay at least one-third of their salaries in Pay As You Earn taxes (PAYE). We are not political diehards or activists but contribute to our country in meaningful ways and deserve to have our garbage collected in a timely manner.
Why are we being neglected like this? Is it not our taxes that pay these very NSWMA workers?
Earlier this year, it took a concerted effort by the residents and a barrage of telephone calls to former NSWMA head Joan Gordon-Webley for the situation to be remedied.
Once again, we are being choked by a mountain of refuse.
It is ironic that the garbage collectors visit the depressed communities that run off Red Hills Road and Whitehall Avenue, most of whose residents only contribute to the tax net when they pay the general consumption tax, sometimes twice weekly.
Maybe this was the reason for the low voter turnout in the recently held election, as the real taxpayers who bear the brunt of the country’s financial burden are often neglected by our political representatives.
Why should we cast our ballots for representatives who fail to carry out a simple task as ensuring that we can operate in a clean environment?
At the time of writing, garbage has not been collected on Dorsetshire Avenue for almost a month now and all the garbage that was accumulated during the Christmas season has piled up in our overflowing receptacles.
I hereby call on our member of parliament, Karl Samuda, and Councillor Lee Clark to pay some attention to the suffering constituents of North Central St Andrew and assist us in having our garbage collected in a timely manner.
We are crying out for help. We are not accustomed to blocking roads with the same uncollected garbage to draw attention to our plight.
Concerned citizen
Dorsetshire Avenue
