Dear Editor,

I write in response to an column published in the Jamaica Observer on Thursday, October 13, 2016 ‘Stop it! Wi too nasty!’ by Odane Plummer. Although the heart of Plummer’s article is in the right place, I think he has failed to fully grasp the complexities of Jamaica’s solid waste management challenges and the potential solutions to the problem.

Plummer starts by emphasising the need for greater incorporation of waste management education into Jamaica’s school curricula. The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) and many other non-government organisations, community-based organisations, and government agencies have been engaged in several school-based environmental education initiatives for decades. Most, if not all, have included a component aimed at raising awareness about proper waste management.

Over the many years we have been implementing these programmes, JET has discovered that schools, by and large, understand the importance of managing garbage properly, and for the most part are able to effectively pass on this message to their students, resulting in clean school environments. The real problem begins once a student steps outside the school gate, into the wider society, where the message of proper waste management is not being reinforced. This is what led JET to launching Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica in February 2015.

Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica is a public education campaign, funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund, that aims to improve Jamaican citizens’ knowledge about the impact of poorly handled waste on public health and the environment, while encouraging personal responsibility for the generation and disposal of waste. Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica cannot clean Jamaica’s streets, gullies or beaches (although we have inspired many people to do so); we cannot provide bins (although several corporate partners have donated bins to the campaign); and finally, we cannot collect garbage or enforce Jamaica’s anti-litter laws — these are all State functions.

Despite Plummer’s perception, Jamaica does in fact have several laws and policies which govern littering and proper garbage disposal. They may need revision and updating, but they do exist. The problem is that enforcement is weak — as Plummer acknowledges. The average litterbug sees no reason that they should not drop their plastic bottle in the street, even with a garbage bin only a few steps away, as there is no perceived penalty for doing so.

Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica has been short-lived by public education campaign standards. Our 18-month campaign has simply not been around long enough to change behaviours and attitudes towards garbage which are deeply entrenched in the Jamaican culture and psyche — although we feel that we have managed to get Jamaicans talking much more about the issue than ever before. Contrary to Plummer’s beliefs, JET has widely used social media platforms and popular Jamaican social media personalities to engage with the public about garbage management issues using the Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica campaign platform.

Improving garbage management in Jamaica requires a multi-stakeholder approach – citizens, civil society, the private sector and the state all have a role to play. It will require improvements in garbage management infrastructure and collection, enforcement of laws, public education and, most of all, acceptance of personal responsibility for generation of waste. I invite Plummer and all Jamaicans to learn more about their garbage, where it comes from, where it goes, and what we can do to improve its management by checking out Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) and at www.nuhduttyupjamaica.org.

Suzanne Stanley

Deputy chief executive officer

Jamaica Environment Trust

sstanley.jet@gmail.com