JET donates 89 garbage drums to Nine Miles community
RESIDENTS in Nine Miles, St Ann, are calling on the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to ensure that garbage collection is timely and done regularly in their community.
The residents made the call following the donation of 89 drums by the Jamaica Environmental Trust (JET) to the community last Wednesday. JET said the drums were made available to the community through funding from the Tourism Enhancement Fund and Wisynco.
The lightweight drums have holes to prevent the storage of water. Additionally, all drums were strategically placed throughout the community and schools.
Some residents said the last time they saw a garbage truck in their community was March. So as a result, community members have created illegal dumps or are burning their waste.
They welcomed the initiative taken by JET to have drums distributed throughout the community. They said the drums will help to curtail illegal dumping in the community.
However, they are concerned that the NSWMA will still fail to collect their garbage on time.
“Sometimes all the garbage throw on the street; many times I have to come and take them off the street and pack them in bags and out them under my garage,” Lydia Malcolm, a member of the community, said.
She, too, wants the NSWMA to make frequent pick-ups.
“I don’t mind if it’s every two weeks because it is a lot of garbage,” she added.
The residents said they would also like to know the dates for pick-ups.
“If we have a fixed date when the truck is coming, we could prepare to meet the truck because we do not want to put certain garbage out,” one resident said.
In the meantime, customer relations officer at the NSWMA’s Ocho Rios office, Donasha Biggs, told the Jamaica Observer North & East that she would look into the residents’ complaints and ensure their concerns are addressed. Biggs said the Nine Miles area is a once a month collection area and that local political representatives are usually notified of the date when the trucks will go into communities.
“We will try to honour the once a month pick-up,” she said.
