THE National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) says one of the parties guilty of dumping at an illegal site in the volatile community of Bedward Gardens in August Town has stepped forward to cooperate with the authorities.

During a tour of the area earlier this month, chief technical officer at the NSWMA, Audley Gordon, promised that the agency would put an immediate stop to the activities and launch an investigation to find out who was behind the operation of the illegal dump.

“We have already identified one contractor who is culpable. The contractor has accepted liability for some of the waste that is there. He couldn’t do otherwise [but] discussions are going on,” Gordon told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

The entity, said the NSWMA official, would not be named as the aim is not create tensions.

“What we want to do is not to be shaming people, but to ensure that compliance is achieved,” he said.

Gordon stressed that the NSWMA’s enforcement team would continue to work with the police to rectify the problem which poses a danger and health risk to the residents of the community. “Fixing it means that we have to ultimately clear that site [and] remove it (waste) to Riverton. We have started, in terms of the preparatory work,” he said.

At the same time, Gordon said the NSWMA had forged a partnership with the police, which should see more patrols in the area. “We have also had meetings with the community, and the residents are cooperating,” he said.

Like the Riverton city disposal site, residents of Bedward Gardens and surrounding areas also benefit from the economic spin-offs provided by the makeshift dump.

“It’s not easy because, let’s face it, they (the community) benefit from it. We are working to bring an end to that. We are doing what we can to ensure that that dump is closed for good, and we will not relent until that is accomplished,” Gordon said.

Gordon, meanwhile, said Fayval Williams, Member of Parliament for St Andrew Central, of which August Town is a part, has excpressed concern about the situation at Bedward Gardens, especially with some residents living on the banks of the Hope River. He said Williams has undertaken to “work from the other side of government” to address the issues plaguing the depressed community.

— Alphea Saunders