Garbage pile-up a sore point in Hanover

WESTERN BUREAU:

Councillors in the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) have labelled the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and the Western Parks and Markets (WPM) as failing in their job and leaving the parish of Hanover wanting with respect to the collection of garbage and other waste.

Following a presentation at the regular monthly meeting of the HMC by Public Cleansing Manager of the NSWMA, Mark Jones,the councillors expressed dissatisfaction with that agency and the way it is going about garbage collection in the parish.

Jones admitted during his presentation that in January, despite its best efforts, WPM operated with three garbage collection units in Hanover, one less than its usual fleet size.

“This resulted in (the collection of garbage in) a number of communities being in backlog. Efforts were, however, made to reduce these backlog by using tipper trucks. We would also do night collections in other parishes, so that we would be able to facilitate [the] reallocation of units from neighbouring parishes to serve in Hanover,” Jones said.

“Our backlog for the month of January, we saw 39 communities in backlog, 16 communities in eastern Hanover and 23 in [the] Western [section],” he continued.

PILE-UP

With several of those communities still having garbage pile-up, councillor for the Sandy Bay Division in Eastern Hanover and Deputy Mayor in the HMC, Andria Dehaney-Grant, expressed her dissatisfaction. At the same time, she welcomed an idea for the addition of more garbage receptacles being placed in communities.

“I think we are having a great challenge with the way and the timely collection of garbage within the parish,” stated Dehaney-Grant, adding that placing additional containers in communities and not collecting the garbage when they are full would just create additional problems.

“We (in Hanover) are on top of the scale when it comes on to paying taxes, but from time to time we are left on the back burner,” she said.

“I think that the time has come for us (Hanover) to get some attention. We are begging for it, we want to look good, we want Hanover to continue to be the best parish in Jamaica; but the garbage collection is one of the sore points in our parish and the people are suffering,” Dehaney-Grant emphasised.

While condemning the regularity with which the WPM representatives talk about the breakdown of the trucks used for the collection of garbage within the parish, Dehaney-Grant argued, “because of that (breakdown) the inner communities in Eastern Hanover are really suffering from garbage pile-up, so I am hoping that when next the minister (of local government) gets some of those brand new, nice, big trucks, Hanover gets some,” she argued.

Meanwhile, checks by The Gleaner in the Orange Bay community of western Hanover revealed that some residents have resorted to burning their garbage to get rid of it. They claim that the irregular garbage collection, especially in the inner sections of the community, leaves them no alternative.