FLANKER, St James – More than 100 drums are to be placed in the inner-city community of Flanker, in Montego Bay, to assist with garbage collection and management.

National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) Operations Manager for the Western Region Edward Muir, who made the announcement, said this is part of a push to keep communities in the parish clean. He said the effort will also include removal of bulky waste.

“After doing a tour through Flanker and other communities we realised that persons are now putting garbage on the roadside,” he told the Jamaica Observer during a tour of the community last week to identify potential spots where the drums could be placed.

“So what we are trying to do is a count on some of the streets to see how many drums we can put together to put in the community, to put at various gates,” he added.

Muir said the initiative will begin with about 50 drums.

“It is a very big community but we are trying to do it street by street. We have identified two streets that we want to start with,” he stated.

He anticipates that the drums will have a dual role. By containing garbage they will eliminate unsightly mess, and they will also increase the efficiency of cleaning crews.

“It will allow the crew on the trucks to clean the area faster, and it will create a more [pleasant] environment,” Muir said.

While he chose not to disclose the cost of the drums, he did indicate that they are now being sourced and will be placed within the community as soon as they become available.

The NSWMA representative was quick to point out that the drums will have holes in them to ensure no water is being collected, which could encourage breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that is a carrier of dengue.

Councillor for the Montego Bay North East Division Senator Charles Sinclair welcomed the move which he anticipates will go a far way in keeping the community clean.

“We will put them at gates of persons [so they] get in the habit of containerising their waste and to keep it in their particular space until the truck comes,” he remarked.