LUCEA, Hanover — Western Parks and Markets (WPM), the regional arm of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), has distributed 35 drums to residents of Haughton Meadows in Hanover as the agency moves to demolish an unsightly garbage skip at the entrance of the community, adjacent to the Hanover Parish Court.

However, while residents have welcomed the move, which is part of the Drum a di Gate initiative, they are concerned that the agency’s inability to collect waste in a timely manner will only move the problem from the community’s main road to their gates.

“When you are going to dismantle the incinerator that is there, where are we going to put our garbage?” questioned a female resident who, though willing to have her photo taken, asked not to be identified by name.

“You get the garbage bin today, [but] what is going to happen tomorrow or the next day after that?” she asked, warning that if the garbage is not collected on time, the dogs are going to have a field day.

She was speaking with the Jamaica Observer last Thursday after a brief ceremony, held at Lucea Infant School during which garbage drums were distributed to the school and nearby community.

Another resident, O’Neill Morley, is also convinced that providing each household with one drum will not be enough to solve the problem.

“The one drum nah go work out and if one drum work out, wi waan fi know how much time fi di week di truck a go enter. Ah jus dat wi a debate pan,” stated Morley, who stressed that regular garbage collection is needed to ensure that one drum will be able to handle the waste generated by each household. Some residents collected drums on behalf of absent neighbours.

In response to residents’ concern that the garbage will now be piling up at their doorsteps WPM Acting Regional Operations Manager Dramain Jones assured them that WPM will be allocated 10 of 50 trucks the NSWMA will receive towards the end of November. These will be added to the region’s existing fleet of 14.

He noted that of the four parishes covered by WMP — Trelawny, Hanover, Westmoreland and St James — St James is the largest and will therefore get most of the 10 trucks. However, he has assured Haughton Meadows residents that they could see an improvement in garbage collection by early December.

“It won’t be exactly where we want it but it will be a lot better than where it is now,” he told the Observer.

He said the NSWMA’s goal is to do pick-ups at least once per week within the community. It will also be distributing more drums in the future, he said, though he was unable to provide an exact number.

“This is just the first in the number of drums that we have promised and we will be back with more… It is what we have on hand now and we want to ensure that we do it. We don’t want to wait until we get everything to carry it come,” assured the regional operations manager.

In commending the NSWMA for the Drum a di Gate initiative, Lucea Infant School Principal Monique Watson Robinson said the school wants to begin recycling and the drums received will be of great assistance.

“When they give us these additional garbage bins we will be able to separate and make sure that Lucea Infant School is a place that is constantly clean,” stated Watson Robinson.

Councillor Easton Edwards (Jamaica Labour Party, Lucea Division) encouraged more residents to separate their waste and practise composting. He is optimistic that the new garbage trucks will make a difference once they arrive and is looking forward to the unsightly mess being removed from the entrance of Haughton Meadows.

“The garbage that is placed in front of the community is a disgrace. People from all over, when driving past, [dump] their garbage and it doesn’t matter. Dead animals, messy things, people don’t separate their garbage anymore. They just come and they throw it there,” stated Edwards, who noted that, with disciplined use of the drums provided by NSWMA people in the community will have control over their own waste.