COUNCILLOR Michael Troupe may very well have exaggerated his claim of commercial activity taking place at the Retirement dump in St James, but it is clear that what obtains there is not ideal.

For, how else can one explain the frequent fires there that have exposed people living in a number of communities in the parish to health risks from the smoke and general air pollution?

The councillor has expressed the view that thriving commercial activity taking place at the dump contributes to frequent fires. The last one was ignited on March 28 and, we know, is still smouldering because we have received complaints from frustrated residents.

According to Mr Troupe, residents of Retirement and Granville have engaged an attorney to represent them in a planned lawsuit against the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), which has responsibility for the dump. That, we believe, will be an interesting case, if it is indeed filed, and could set a precedent for similar action by other Jamaicans across the island who, for too long, have been affected by air pollution from NSWMA-managed landfills.

It is a problem that needs fixing for — as Mr Troupe’s colleague, Councillor Dwight Crawford, has said — the fire at the dump “is unacceptable”.

People living in Granville and Retirement, he told last Thursday’s meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation, “are suffering” as “the smoke was so thick you can cut it with a knife”.

Councillor Crawford is correct in arguing that this intolerable situation cannot be allowed to continue. However, we suggest that both he and Councillor Troupe, as well as the other elected officials of the St James Municipal Corporation, have been negligent in their duties.

Local authorities, as far as we know, are empowered to format and enforce rules for the good governance of the parishes over which they have jurisdiction. Management of public health, sanitation and solid waste, we expect, are part of their remit.

And even if, in this case, the NSWMA has total responsibility for the landfill, the fact is that the facility sits in the St James Municipal Corporation’s jurisdiction and, as such, the local government body should have been ensuring that the dump is properly managed and does not pose a health risk to people living nearby.

That takes us to the situation in St Ann last weekend that saw traffic gridlock lasting for as long as eight hours, we are told, and which resulted in the St Ann Municipal Corporation taking the ridiculous decision to temporarily suspend event permits for Pearly Beach.

It is an open secret that many Jamaicans travel to St Ann on holiday weekends. The fact that last weekend was long — stretching from Good Friday to Easter Monday — and loaded with entertainment events should have signalled to the authorities that additional resources would have been needed to manage the flow of traffic and people.

The solution, we submit, is not to punish a promoter for what was obviously an error on the part of the local authorities. Instead, the corporation needs to get its house in order, plan, and coordinate properly with the police and event promoters in order that businesses in the jurisdiction can thrive and generate revenue for the parish.

Councillors are elected to manage their jurisdictions. They must do just that.