MONTEGO BAY, St James — The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) estimates that it will take about a month, with support from private truck owners and their drivers, to get rid of a two-week build-up of garbage across the country.

“We’re engaging tipper trucks and I am making an appeal that if you have a tipper truck in good condition and you have a driver ready and you can put a crew on truck — in other words you can find somebody that can lift up the branches and stuff — we are prepared to engage tipper trucks. [They will] help us to at least take off the bulky stuff — the cutting of the trees, the old furniture, those kind of items — and that will help to create a better aesthetic and people will begin to feel a little better,” NSWMA Executive Director Audley Gordon told journalists at a media briefing in Montego Bay Tuesday morning.

He repeatedly stressed that the four-week time frame is not fixed but something his team is working towards.

“It’s important to remember that we were having challenges before, which we were working to get on top of when the hurricane came; so it’s a double whammy for us at the NSWMA,” Gordon told reporters at the offices of Western Parks and Markets (WPM), the NSWMA’s regional arm.

“All told, based on our calculations now, we are behind by at least two weeks, most places — at least. It will take some catching up because, to be behind by a day is difficult; if you are going to be behind by two weeks, you are in deep waters,” he admitted.

The executive director said the NSWMA is hobbled by damage done, during the storm, to some of its most recently acquired equipment.

“We had relocated all our trucks across the island to places we had considered safe. In normal times, those places would have stood up and be safe. Here in the WPM region and in Montego Bay area, we placed our trucks at the Catherine Hall Stadium and all of you know what happened with that Catherine Hall belt,” he said, referencing the mountains of mud which inundated that section of the city.

“We had like about six trucks that were affected and, as of now, they are not back in service,” Gordon lamented.

Faced with this unexpected hurdle, the NSWMA has pivoted from its initial plan — crafted ahead of the weather system’s approach — to first focus on clearing debris from the storm and then tackling the backlog of garbage. Gordon said the company is now seeking to do both activities simultaneously to ensure regular garbage collection doesn’t become an even bigger problem.

He explained why he believes there will be results within four weeks.

“Why we set a month is because there are still unknown factors. When you go in now to an area to collect, where one trip used to clean an area, that same area is taking up to three and four trips now, because you are not just finding the regular garbage, you are finding things that are attached to the hurricane,” he explained.

Tempering expectations, he cautioned that things will not be “perfect” within a month, “but near enough to what normal should be”.

“That’s an estimate but that is what we are working for,” Gordon added.

His caveat is understandable as he still needs to get his staff back to work even as they tunnel their way out of the shambles Hurricane Melissa has made of sections of the country. All of this has to be done within the context of patches of unreliable phone and Internet service.

“We are now in this dilemma where we have this eight-day to two weeks — as we have estimated — back-up of garbage and we have less trucks, especially in the most affected area here, to do it,” Gordon noted.

“How are we going to manage? Well, I said once our staff are coming back; once we get the trucks back up, then everything will be alright once the communications improve,” he said.

He outlined steps already taken which, he believes, will also help the agency get back on track.

“I can tell you that I have, within the WPM region, 30 tippers engaged so far. We are looking [for] more but we want them to come with their drivers and the crew because we have a lot of bulky waste. We have seen a proliferation of mini dumps since the hurricane,” Gordon said.

“We are also appealing for people with compactor trucks. You are out there in the private sector, if you have compactors, one or two to spare, we’ll engage them temporarily also in this period of emergency,” he added.