MONTEGO BAY, St James — The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is rolling out a three-pronged strategy aimed at stamping out illegal dump sites across Jamaica, beginning with what Executive Director Audley Gordon says will be one of the most aggressive and sustained public education drives the country has ever seen and which will include taking the message to unconventional places such as nine nights, the traditional event held to honour the memory of dead individuals.

The initiative was highlighted Monday during the launch of a major clean-up under the recently launched Debris Management Operation in Whitehouse, St James. The area is one of several communities being targeted for the removal of debris left behind by Hurricane Melissa.

Gordon explained that the critical element of the strategy is a nationwide education campaign designed to change how Jamaicans view their responsibility to the environment.

He said the programme will target communities across the island, including unconventional spaces such as wakes, as the authority pushes to meet people where they already gather.

“We are embarking this year on one of the most robust and sustained public education drives that the country would have seen in waste management, because we believe that there’s a lot of ignorance in the system. A lot of people do things without even understanding fully the implications of what they are doing. We want to go out and have the conversation with them to make sure that we communicate the best practices, the best approaches,” Gordon said.

While enforcement will remain part of the strategy, the NSWMA head said the “big stick” approach will never be the first option.

“I believe if we want a relationship to flourish, the courtship phase is not just important, but fundamentally so. We are going into a massive courting period where we will talk to people. We will be in the schools, the churches, the youth clubs, the farmers’ groups, the bar upon the corner. Wi a go all bout. We are going all set up,” he said.

Also known as wakes, or nine night, set ups are usually held at the home of the deceased, culminating on the ninth night after death. Rooted in African tradition, nine nights are meant to offer comfort to the bereaved and ensure that the spirit of the deceased transitions peacefully to the afterlife. Music, food, and drink usually play a key role in the event.

Gordon said that the NSWMA campaign will include the use of social media, traditional media and pop culture.

“We will be having town halls. We will be having community meetings. We will be taking the message to everyone, wherever they are, and we will take the time necessary, because you don’t change a culture overnight… We will grind it out until people get up each morning and feel a sense of duty, like we used to. It’s not new; wi used to clean up wi place,” Gordon added.

The goal, he said, is to rekindle civic pride.

“We want to fit the public into a place where personal responsibility is not coerced — it just happens as a duty. People [need to] know: This is my duty to the environment. I am responsible for the solid waste that I generate. If I’m refurbishing my house and I change the tiles, I take out old wood or zinc or old furniture, I must ensure that it is properly disposed of. We have to get people there,” he stressed.

Gordon said current fines don’t deter bad behaviour so the NSWMA has “made representation” for them to be increased.

Another element of the plan will see a major overhaul of the agency’s enforcement arm.

“We will be doing a special recruitment; and building out a lean, mean, no-nonsense enforcement unit. And we have the full backing of the Government — they have given us the… money to pay for the job,” he said.

“We make sure that we put the kind of enforcement unit in place that will not only catch people, but they will be supported by a fine structure that creates the deterrence. But again, I say that is not our first approach; that is a part of the menu of things that will be done,” Gordon said.

He also gave an update on work being done by the Debris Management Committee which was established after Hurricane Melissa exposed weaknesses in NSWMA’s existing structure.

“We were firmly of the view that the magnitude of this debris collection exercise was far too much to keep it on the existing operational unit that we have. Today, I can tell you that we are already beginning to see the successes of that decision,” Gordon said.

He noted that the Whitehouse clean-up was guided by fresh intelligence from the committee’s geo-mapping team.

“We wouldn’t see this normally if you drive on the main road. We have about six trucks used in this operation. There will be three pieces of heavy-duty equipment, and we’re gonna clean this place thoroughly,” Gordon assured.

Committee chair Shanique Johnson said similar operations are already under way in St Elizabeth and will soon expand across rural St James.

“We are currently in Black River doing similar operations… We have actually taken down the… debris from the market, and we’re in the process of transporting that debris from the Black River Market. We’re commencing in this Whitehouse area… and we’re systematically going in communities in rural St James, Adelphi, Somerton, Maroon Town… by informing residents via town criers that we’re coming into the area, and then going in in a systematic way to remove those zincs, metals, hurricane debris, so that our lives can really be returned to some normalcy as best as possible,” she said.

National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) Executive Director Audley Gordon addressing reporters in Whitehouse, St James, on Monday. Beside him is chair of the NSWMA’s Debris Management Committee Shanique Johnson.