KINGSTON, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness is calling for the implementation of a strong public education campaign on proper waste disposal and personal responsibility.

Holness made the call during a meeting with representatives from the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), in Kingston, recently.

“It’s one thing to have the garbage trucks running on time regularly and collecting garbage [and] it’s another thing to have people just throwing out their garbage with no separation, no proper containerisation and not adhering to schedule,” he said.

“So, the public education element of your (NSWMA) responsibility is going to become more critical to the process, that we have to start to talk to the public about the importance of household waste management and the commercial waste management, and personal responsibility for waste management,” the prime minister continued.

Holness pointed out that as the regular debushing exercises were carried out, it exposed the “travel waste along the road”.

“It’s just the shameful discarding of drink bottles and food boxes and all the plastic waste that obviously were thrown by pedestrians walking or passengers through car windows,” he said.

“It is shameful, and there has to be a very strong public education campaign about this, starting with our little children who do it… without knowledge that this is wrong and for our adults who weren’t schooled properly, and for those who should know better and don’t. So, in 2026, we have to pay attention to these kinds of things, and the first place to start is with public education,” the prime minister said.

Holness also informed that discussions are taking place for the implementation of a digital ticketing system for sanitation and improper disposal of waste.

He explained that while a ticketing system is already in place, the digital one will act similarly to a traffic ticket.

“So, you can be brought to court for this. The truth is, everybody wants to see Jamaica clean, but nobody wants to do it. All of these things end up in the gullies and flood areas. So, the NSWMA is going to be a critical entity in trying to bring Jamaicans to a higher level of managing their environment and their built spaces for cleanliness and public sanitation,” the prime minister said.

–       JIS