MONTEGO BAY, St James — Western Parks and Markets (WPM), the regional arm of National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), is looking at ways to rein in vendors and business owners who it says are littering the streets of Montego Bay in the early hours of the morning.

“From about 3:00/3:30 in the morning to about 6:00/6:30 am, that is when the problems come about,” WPM Operations Manager Dramaine Jones told the Jamaica Observer.

The result is that commuters travelling through downtown Montego Bay at daybreak are sometimes greeted by makeshift dumps or areas where garbage has been illegally discarded.

Jones said WPM has identified a clear pattern.

“We clean the town every night but Barnett and St James streets, as a priority, are the last place we clean and this is done like about 3:00 am,” he explained.

“Any sort of build-up that is seen in the morning happens that time, and the sweepers typically come out about 5:30 am,” he continued.

Jones believes the illegal dumping is being facilitated by some members of the business community.

“Typically, it is the vendors and the commercial people [who] pay individuals to put things there,” he said.

“Lazy, mean, don’t care,” is how he described those who continue to frustrate efforts to keep Montego Bay clean.

Jones gave an example of behaviour observed at the heavily used Charles Gordon Market, where there have been improvements to the waste disposal infrastructure.

“There are four skips in the market now but people sometimes still decide to dump on the ground and even out by the transportation centre back gate. We move the skip and people still decide to bring construction material to put there,” he said.

Another pile of garbage seen, early one morning, on Barnett Street in Montego Bay.

Jones said WPM has been periodically doing compliance visits to get the business community on-board with efforts to keep the city clean. The agency works with the fire department, Ministry of Health, the Municipal Corporation and other relevant agencies during these efforts.

“We’ve done a serious amount of that already, it’s from that the whole clean-up of the market has started with the mayor [of Montego Bay Richard Vernon] and we aim to continue that,” he said.

WPM will also be tweaking its cleaning schedule which now sees one garbage truck operating at night and two during the day.

“The next thing that we are putting in place is actually staggering the sweepers so not all of them are going to come out very early in the morning. Some are going to come out between 11:00 am and midday. That will ensure that the place is constantly being swept,” said Jones.

“Another thing is that we have to have a sit-down with the mayor shortly because we have to look at business sensitisation sessions. The mayor has spoken to the small food operators in the town and we got some amount of compliance. We figured if we did something towards the business sector, when the clampdown comes they wouldn’t have anything to say,” he added.

Mayor Richard Vernon, who has spearheaded efforts to eliminate several illegal dumping sites across the city, including locations at Hart Street and Miriam Way, said work will continue throughout the city.

“We continue to explore the elimination of other key sites, including those at Norwood, Vernon’s Drive, and Hart Street. We will also revisit operations conducted at Barracks Road and North Lane, which recorded only partial success. These are just a few examples, but many more sites are under review,” he said.

Vernon said progress in improving waste management has been steady, albeit gradual, with notable gains already achieved under the MoBay STEP-UP Programme.

“The elimination of dumpsites in key areas across the city core has been successful, with clean spaces sustained for more than two years following these operations,” he explained.

“The process is not linear; it requires effective stakeholder management, the installation of surveillance cameras, and strong community buy-in. WPM’s capacity must be significantly expanded — or waste management privatised — to address lingering challenges,” he added.