KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, told OBSERVER ONLINE last night that his ministry had not received a copy of the Public Defender’s report on the administration of the Riverton City Dump by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) up to then.

“The ministry has not received a copy of the report up to now. I haven’t seen it, but I have heard about it on the radio and read it in the Press,” McKenzie said.

“Something like that, if it is being released to the media, the same courtesy should have been extended to the ministry so that we can review it and respond to the media. We are at a disadvantage,” he said.

However, McKenzie added that as soon as the ministry receives a copy it will review it, and will also seek to implement recommendations he understands have been made by the Public Defender.

The report which was made public yesterday by Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry was prompted by the two-week long March, 2015 fire at the dump, which was ranked as the most detrimental in the history of fires at the site, according to an air quality report from the National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA).

The Jamaica Fire Brigade said that the fire was the biggest to occur at the dump, covering 90 acres of the site, and the most expensive to control, costing taxpayers over $200 million and creating severe respiratory problems for people living in the vicinity of the dump

Balford Henry