Kingston mayor calls carnival bands to meeting amid garbage concerns

Mayor of Kingston Andrew Swaby says he has called in the organisers of Sunday's Carnival road marches over the filthy New Kingston streets in St Andrew that greeted residents and motorists on Monday morning. 

The meeting with the Xodus, GenXs and YardMas bands is set for Tuesday. 

Swaby this morning toured several streets including Trafalgar Road, Knutsford Boulevard, Holborn and Ruthven roads. 

"All of those areas were filled with garbage, including the bus stops. I also looked at the Devon House area, it was very clean but when I went further up to the Police Officers' Club, in front of Jamaica House, it was very dirty," he told The Gleaner. 

Jamaica House, which is on Hope Road, hosts the Office of the Prime Minister.

"I've called in the organisers because part of the conditions was that they should have gone in from last night and clean the area. ...Until about 10:30 a.m., the area wasn't clean. At least when I went there I saw persons cleaning but they should have had the required resources to clean the area. I want to find out where the breakdown is," Swaby said. 

"I want to make sure that this doesn't repeat itself."

Earlier, Opposition Member of Parliament, Julian Robinson, expressed concern about the pile-up of garbage in New Kingston and surrounding areas following Sunday's Carnival road marches.

His South East St Andrew constituency includes the New Kingston area. 

Robinson said he was getting numerous complaints from residents of the area regarding the garbage that is still uncollected and on the roads.

He called on the organisers of the three bands which held road marches to address the matter with urgency.

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