Trelawny garbage woes

Ruddy Mathison, Gleaner Writer

FALMOUTH, Trelawny:

The collection of garbage in Trelawny drew strong criticisms from a number of councillors attending last Thursday's meeting of the Trelawny Parish Council.

Leading the charge, mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the council Colin Gager, said garbage collection in the parish was totally unacceptable. He described as inadequate, the job currently being done by Waste Management Ltd, the regional entity of the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

The mayor told the council that there are piles of uncollected garbage, especially on school compounds. He said a better system of garbage collection should be instituted immediately.

Meanwhile, local representative of Waste Management Ltd, George Heron said he does "understand the mayor's concerns". However, he noted that there were guidelines that schools have to adhere to, in order to get garbage removed from their compounds. Heron explained that institutions have to submit requests to the ministry of education, which will, in turn, make specific request to his company for garbage to be collected.

The mayor decried the response, adding that "it is a sad state of affair when schools have to wait on the ministry of education to have garbage collected".

Meanwhile, councillor for the Stewart Town division, Fitz Christe, also expressed dissatisfaction with the garbage collection in his division, adding that he was bombarded with queries from residents in the area regarding collection of their waste.