KINGSTON, Jamaica — Challenges facing the Metropolitan Parks and Market (MPM) in the Corporate Area have resulted in the bulk waste it collects from each household being limited to two bags.

Samuel Mullings, spokesman for the MPM’s Kingston and St Andrew office, made the disclosure at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Parish Disaster and Public Health Committee of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).

He was responding to complaints from Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Councillor Vernon McLeod, (Havendale division) and People’s National Party (PNP) Councillor Venetia Phillips (Papine Division) that bulk waste was not being collected.

McLeod said that residents of Havendale were complaining that their garden cuttings were not being collected by the garbage trucks. He suggested that MPM collect bulk waste for a fee.

Meanwhile, Phillips said residents in her division were complaining about mosquitoes. The councillor requested MPM to “collect the larger bulk items that can be a breeding ground” for the insects.

However, Mullings said that the MPM at this time did not have the resources to collect household bulk waste. He said that the company was concentrating on collecting domestic household garbage that could create a stench.

Meanwhile, PNP councillor Neville Wright of the Trench Town Division said that there were challenges with illicit dumping in his division. 

“Truckloads of dirt are being dumped in some areas in my division and, with the rains, woodland and criminality can develop,” he said.

Claudene Edwards