KINGSTON, Jamaica — The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) says a comprehensive report on the plan to move hundreds of truckloads of waste from St Thomas to Kingston is expected to be delivered by March.

The garbage is to be moved from the Morant Bay landfill in St Thomas to the Riverton landfill in Kingston. Approximately 500 truckloads of waste are being transferred, with authorities eyeing the former as a transfer point. Relieving this site of some of the waste is intended to make it more manageable.

Speaking during the St Thomas Municipal Corporation’s monthly sitting in Morant Bay on February 13, Public Cleansing Inspector in charge of Western St Thomas, Kashane Grossett, informed that “the project is ongoing and a comprehensive report will be provided at our next meeting”.

“We have implemented all suggestions made in the last sitting and, so far, there have been no safety incidents and [there has been] minimal disturbance to the neighbouring community,” he further advised.

The NSWMA is also reporting that there have been significant improvements in its St Thomas collection schedules over the past month.

“[This is] due to the implementation of our night collection [schedules] in some communities, especially on the eastern side of the parish. This change has led to a notable decrease in our backlogs, even reaching a [point] where there are no reported backlogs,” Grossett said.

He indicated that efforts are also underway “to better inform the communities about the night collection operation, including generating and sharing a night collection schedule”.

— JIS