ST JAMES, Jamaica — Regional Operations Manager of WPM Waste Management Ltd, Dramaine Jones, says the company’s operations remain firmly focused on restoring regular waste collection across Westmoreland, despite challenges caused by the recent hurricane.

Addressing the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation’s monthly meeting in Savanna-la-Mar, recently, Jones reported that the company’s workforce and fleet were significantly affected, slowing the restart of operations in the immediate aftermath of the sorm.

“Our teams would have been out working tirelessly. We would have about 73 staff members from Westmoreland who would have been heavily impacted,” he said.

He outlined that the impact extended beyond physical damage, noting that restarting operations required time and coordination.

“We had a little bit of a challenge restarting operations, as it took us a few days to really get persons up and about. We had to locate persons and sometimes getting them in the right frame of mind to really restart the operation,” Jones said.

He pointed out that despite those setbacks, WPM has managed to resume limited services.

“We still have about six units operating within Westmoreland now,” he said, while noting that some supplementary contractors remain sidelined due to staffing and mechanical issues.

Jones told councillors that daily sweeping operations have resumed across major town centres and public spaces and that clean-up efforts are also under way in several communities.

“We also started some amount of cleaning up and removal in the Savanna-la-Mar town centre. We are currently in Whitehouse, and we are also on Waterworks Lane as well,” he added.

He assured the corporation that support from other regions is expected to bolster local efforts.

“We are just receiving some support from other regions… to help to assist with the collection of the build up of waste,” Jones said.

— JIS