Portmore Embarks on Major Clean-Up Exercise

The Portmore Municipality has embarked on a major clean-up operation, following the passage of Hurricane Ivan.
Mayor of Portmore, George Lee told JIS News that the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) began the exercise yesterday (September 16).
He also said that the issue of garbage collection was discussed by the Council at a special meeting on September 16, adding that strategies to facilitate the recovery process, and how restoration efforts in the various divisions were being carried out, were also mentioned.
Mayor Lee said that his major concern at the moment was the collection of garbage and the restoration of water and electricity to the communities.
He appealed to residents to desist from mixing “tree cuttings” with their garbage and to assist in cleaning their surroundings and schools in their communities.
Mr. Lee said the Council, in collaboration with the Social Development Commission (SDC), would be registering persons who have lost their roofs, zinc sheets and other articles during the hurricane. “We will be going through all the communities that suffered over the next four days to collect that information,” he pointed out.
He said that the beautification programme launched by the Council in June this year would be re-launched, because of the damage done to trees and community parks, and that the Council would have to embark on a replanting process, as about 90 per cent of the Municipality’s trees were destroyed by the hurricane. “We lost hundreds of trees, and for me it was an environmental disaster,” the Mayor said, noting that some of the trees destroyed were planted about 10 to 15 years ago.
He pointed out that several residents lost houses and roofs in areas such as Portmore Lane, Naggo Head, Gregory Park, Newlands, Independence City and Port Henderson. Hellshire beach was also extensively damaged, he added.
The Mayor said that the Council’s drain cleaning programme had helped “tremendously” in reducing the impact of flooding in many of the communities.