FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC) and National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) on Friday commenced the clean-up of a massive build-up of garbage accumulated at Falmouth “Ben Dung” Market over the holiday season.

There have been loud complaints from vendors and shoppers at the market over the accumulation of garbage.

Outlining his plans for the new year, mayor of Falmouth C Junior Gager told the Jamaica Observer that the clean-up of the historic town of Falmouth and other major towns in the parish is among the municipal corporation’s list of priorities for this year.

“We have been doing the necessary cleaning up of the market but all of that has gone back to zero because of the Christmas season. We have quite an amount of garbage there now, and we are now in the process of removing all of the Christmas garbage. We are now working along with the NSWMA — we will be providing [a] backhoe and we will see how best we can remove the pile-up of garbage so that we can have the facility back to normal,” Gager said.

“We have to tackle it, because while we are collecting the garbage in the town we have to remember that the market is a part of the town. As usual, we will pledge our backhoe and we will utilise our truck to accomplish this,” he added.

He noted that the partnership between NSWMA and TMC to remove the garbage from the market broke down towards the end of 2024.

“We will have to go into a deep meeting with the NSWMA to make sure that the partnership stands, because it started good and then at the end of the year it went back to zero,” Gager said.

Gager also said that during the course of this year, collection of revenue will be high on TMC’s to-do list.

He further noted that plans are being formulated to replace the bus shed at Falmouth Transportation Centre, which was destroyed during the passage of Hurricane Beryl in July last year.

The damage to the lone bus shed came as the municipal corporation was working to provide covering for the 11 loading bays.

“In terms of the transportation centre, which we have started on our own and has been a real success, we will be making sure that all the necessary improvements are there,” Gager said.

In 2023 Transport Minister Daryl Vaz, who visited the facility at Gager’s invitation, described as unacceptable the absence of shelters at the 11 loading bays for taxis and buses serving the 22 routes, and the limited seating at the facility.

He recommended that private entities fund the improvement of municipal corporation-run transportation hubs across the country in exchange for advertising at these facilities.