A campaign to clear public spaces in Montego Bay of garbage and clutter is scheduled to be launched tomorrow by a number of agencies headed by the chamber of commerce.

According to Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce President Gloria Henry, the campaign, titled My MoBay, will dovetail into other civic pride campaigns, such as Adopt a Verge, Nuh Dutty up Jamaica.

“It’s more of a public education initiative… a holistic way of looking at downtown Montego Bay and bringing all the stakeholders together,” Henry told last week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

“We have already formed a group that includes all the stakeholders — the parish council, the National Solid Waste Management Authority, Ministers’ Fraternal, Social Development Commission, Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, higglers, vendors, taxi operators, everybody, because they are the ones who get the blame sometimes for not keeping downtown clean,” she said.

“But we have to regulate and we have to monitor and we have to give people some kind of template to work with, and once we do that, then we hold them accountable,” Henry argued.

She said that members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) who are included in the group point out that there is no order or structure downtown Montego Bay. Therefore, they are unable to enforce the law.

“Other people are saying the JCF not doing their job, because people are blatantly breaking the law in their presence and they do noting about it,” Henry said. “But we have to understand that if we don’t create something that people are aware of, then we really can’t enforce.”

According to Henry, the chamber wants to use the campaign to get merchants to maintain their storefronts, to stop disposing of their garbage on the streets, and to get the parish council to utilise the resources of the municipal police to enforce the anti-litter legislation.

“We need to deal with vending downtown,” said Henry. “Yes, the parish council has been talking about it, but talking is not going to solve the problem. We need to put some regulation and standards in place. We can’t have people just knock up a wall everywhere and hanging up clothes and selling. Yes, they are business operators and we have to find a solution for them to ply their trade, but we must put policy in place that governs vending.

“I believe we can design a decent cart for the vendors to operate from,” she said.

“We have to fix those things that make Montego Bay unattractive to visitors, to citizens and to other persons living in Jamaica,” Henry added.