KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has blamed the Government for the latest fire in the Riverton landfill while the party’s youth arm, Young Jamaica, accused them of robbing citizens of their right to a healthy environment.

Opposition Spokesman on Local Government Desmond McKenzie said in a release today that the failure of the Government to implement proper waste management programmes is the cause of the latest landfill fire.

He argued: “The Local Government Ministry, through the NSWMA and the Ministry of Health, have failed the people of Kingston with their lacklustre response to the fire which is now raging at the Riverton City Landfill. This is not the first fire and it seems they are getting more frequent. It seems they don’t know how to do the job they are paid to do”.

“I have spoken to the executive director of the NSWMA, Jennifer Edwards, who on receiving my reports has assured me that everything is being done to address the issue, but this is not enough. The people of Jamaica deserve much better than they are getting,” McKenzie said.

On the other hand, Young Jamaica said “the Government’s callous disregard for the health and safety of the residents of the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR) displays gross negligence and a wilful disobedience of a clearly outlined constitutional command.”

Commenting on the issue, the organisation’s director of communications, Ricardo Brooks, called on Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry to fast-track legal action against the NSWMA over the matter.

Appealing to Harrison Henry, Brooks said: “This is a clear violation of the rights of our citizens and continues this Government’s unacceptable record of ignoring health-related crises. This is now a crisis we can no longer ignore.”

The organisation further urged NEPA and the Ministry of Health to utilise whatever enforcement power is available to them under law, to force the NSWMA to get the situation under control.