Hanover Gears Up for National Clean-Up Exercise

Chairman of the Hanover Parish Council, Mayor Wynter McIntosh, says all is in place for the national clean-up exercise in the parish on Saturday (September 10).

“We have already started the sensitisation. The Social Development Commission (SDC) is already out there working and our public relations officer is out there as well. At the end of it, I’m expecting that the citizens will really benefit from this exercise,” he told JIS News.

Local Government and Community Development Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, will lead the activity, which will be preceded by two town hall meetings.

The first will take place on Thursday (September 8) at the Rusea’s High School in Lucea and the other on Friday (September 9) at the Bethel Methodist Church Hall in Hopewell.  Both meetings are to begin at 5:30 each evening.

The clean-up exercise will see the removal of bulky solid waste from communities and public spaces.

Minister McKenzie will meet with stakeholders at 8:30 on Saturday morning at Sandy Bay (across from the old garment factory) before moving into the various communities for sensitisation and waste collection.

“We will start in the town centres – Lucea, Sandy Bay, Hopewell and Green Island and will continue with a beautification programme. We have even taken it a step further by starting a drain-cleaning and maintenance programme in Lucea, which is already reaping success in transforming the town,” Mayor McIntosh informed.

The Local Government Ministry is spearheading the National Task Force established by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness to address the island’s state of cleanliness, particularly in light of the Zika virus, among other mosquito-borne diseases.

The task force also includes the Ministry of Health, National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), SDC, National Works Agency (NWA), Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).

Clean-up activities have already been undertaken in St. James, Portland and St. Andrew.

As has occurred in previous locations where the exercise was carried out, focus will also be on the removal of old cars on streets and in open lots and the storage of old tires.  Attention will again be placed on unregulated garages.