RETIREMENT, St James – INDIVIDUALS who avoid paying fees by dumping their garbage on the road to the Retirement Landfill in St James are creating a major headache for area residents and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA). Forced to call in the fire department to suppress a recent blaze after annoyed residents lit debris left on the road, the NSWMA’s westernw regional head is warning perpetrators that they will be caught.

“Instead of proceeding directly to the disposal area [they] just leave waste along the roadway and other sections. They need to stop!” regional operations manager for Western Parks and Markets [WPM] Dramaine Jones told the Jamaica Observer West. The WPM is the western arm of the NSWMA.

Jones is flabbergasted that those who travel all the way to the landfill on the outskirts of Montego Bay leave items mere metres away from the designated drop-off areas.

Items strewn across the road sometimes include old furniture, car parts, and rubble from construction sites. According to Jones, private companies or individuals are charged a modest fee to dispose of waste at the State-operated landfill.

“The fees are minimal, and in fact what they should know is, if we catch them the charges far outweigh the fees,” he told the Observer West.

He said the maximum fee is $3,500 for a compactor truck to drop off a load while the current fines can go up to $10,000. Offenders dragged before the court, Jones said, may face penalties up to $1 million.

He was unable to quantify the losses the WMP is suffering in unpaid fees but pointed out that these are funds which could have been used to help maintain the resource-scarce facility. He explained that perpetrators are gaining access through a back entrance to the landfill which, by sheer virtue of its size, is impossible to secure.

“It’s a challenge, given the other tasks we have to do and the issue of manpower,” Jones noted.

“They patrol from time to time but it is such a big place, close to 70 acres, so they wouldn’t get to adequately patrol that area properly,” he said of steps his team members have taken to address the issue.

So far they have nothing to show for their efforts.

“It’s a very time-consuming task and we’ve been around there for days already and we still couldn’t catch anybody,” said Jones.

The issue came to a head last week when the local fire department had to be called in to tackle a burning pile of garbage that had been left on the road.

A resident of the nearby Retirement community explained the citizens’ frustration.

“Sometimes the truck them just drop the thing in the road and it all block up the road that go over to the dump,” complained the man who opted not to provide his name.

This results in more garbage unloaded by individuals who are reluctant to then drive all the way to the main entrance. Residents are concerned that the waste is a health hazard.

A tough-talking Jones from the WPM has put those creating havoc at the landfill on notice.

“We’ve done investigations in other areas, in Westmoreland, and we’ve caught some persons. We will catch others as well,” he warned.