KINGSTON, Jamaica — With garbage piling up in some communities amid an approaching tropical storm that is expected to impact the island as a category 1 hurricane beginning Friday, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie has assured that the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is working around-the-clock to clear the backlog of solid waste.

“I must say the solid waste authority has been working extensively especially over the last couple of days; we have been doing extra hours and even in some communities working 24 hours a day around-the-clock,” said McKenzie.

The minister was responding to questions Wednesday morning during a special press briefing of the Office of the Prime Minister which was held to update the country about the Government’s level of preparedness ahead of the storm.

“As I speak there’s a special operation that is being undertaken islandwide and there are some specific areas that have been identified for attention,” McKenzie added.

Continuing, he said, “The organisation is working, but I must admit that the volume of garbage that we have with the consistent rainfall that we have been having and the fact that [at] most of our landfills, the roads are not fully paved [thus] making the exercise a little bit tedious”.

McKenzie reiterated that over the last couple of days there has been increased activity with a special operation taking place in selected areas of the island to remove the garbage.

– Lynford Simpson