CHAIRMAN of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), Owen Ellington, is proposing night-time collection as part of measures to improve efficiency and avoid traffic congestion.

“Maybe we are competing with all the traffic on the road during the days during peak hours to collect and remove the garbage, while between the hours of 9:00 pm and 5:00 am the roads are free and we can use them. Why not consider making that strategic shift to night-time collection; 85 per cent of our collections, let us do it at night,” he said.

Ellington, who was addressing a special operations meeting on Monday at the Courtleigh Hotel in New Kingston, also suggested increased focus on collections in residential or public commercial areas during these hours.

“[These] are the areas set out on the public thoroughfare so that we do not have to be competing [with other road users] during peak traffic hours,” he said.

The meeting was held under the theme Operation RESET, R – Review of our operations to E – Ensure that we deliver S – Service that is E – Efficient and T – Timely.

Discussions focused on the current state of operations and the development of strategies to achieve the authority’s mandate.

Ellington encouraged the senior management team to leverage their expertise to drive transformative outcomes.

He called for brainstorming sessions to develop radical yet practical solutions to improve service delivery and drive sustainable change.

He said that innovative approaches must be undertaken as the authority seeks to chart a new course for the new year.

“I would love to see the kind of radical shifts in the way we are doing things which will result in meaningful changes and meaningful improvements so that the public can begin to reference the NSWMA as an agency that is improving, becoming more efficient, and delivering on its [public] mandate,” he said.

The NSWMA provides residential solid waste collection, commercial waste disposal, electronic waste disposal, bulky waste collection (mattresses, appliances, furniture, wood from remodelling projects).

— JIS