BOGUE, St James — Montego Bay’s city managers are considering putting surveillance cameras in place to catch litterbugs in the act, even though Mayor Richard Vernon has conceded that the price tag may be an issue.

“We have to find special sources or raise enough funds through fees or taxes owed. From these revenue streams we can put in the necessary surveillance system, employ the people to get the work done, to keep our space clean,” the mayor told the Jamaica Observer.

Vernon’s comments came following clean-up activities in the Bogue Heights community on Tuesday, courtesy of the team at Western Parks and Markets (WPM), the local arm of National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).

During the clean-up, NSWMA Executive Director Audley Gordon spoke of the way businesses contribute to the perennial problem of litter. While some follow the rules, he said, many others do not, with some dumping rubbish in empty lots and others giving it to “a handcart man” to dispose of.

“You have the NSWMA you can call; you have private collectors who also do this [garbage collection]. Call them and put in place the proper arrangements so that the garbage which is generated from your business can be transported in an environmentally sound manner to the approved disposal site,” Gordon urged.

“It cannot continue and so I am saying: ‘If you doing your business — and we want you to make money — we want you to help us keep the place clean also,” he added.

Mayor Vernon put the business community on notice that they will be under scrutiny.

“If you are not demonstrating to us your means of disposal as a business operator, we are going to have a serious conversation — and we are not afraid to activate those mechanisms that are in place to deal with the situation and deal with those infractions,” he warned.

He said that, come April, a technical working group will be dispatched to monitor the city and report infractions so as to ensure that those caught illegally dumping material will face the repercussions.

He made it clear that members of the business sector would not be the only ones expected to do better.

“We are going to go at persons who are making our city nasty,” vowed Vernon. “They are not only business people. There are persons who are doing renovations of their homes and they pull out the building materials, and they toss it to the side, and they make our communities ugly.”

He said the municipal corporation will be taking a zero-tolerance approach to littering and will be utilising the existing regulations to address the problem of improper waste disposal.

“If you cannot present to us how you are managing your waste as a resident, you can have problems — and we will activate the necessary areas to deal with those problems,” the mayor declared.