21 Tickets Issued to Litterbugs Since May 1

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is reporting that 21 persons have been issued litter tickets in the first 2 days of its Anti-Litter Pilot Project, which began on Tuesday, May 1.
Enforcement and Investigations Administrator at the NSWMA, Opal Davis, told JIS News that since May 1, Enforcement Officers from the NSWMA, along with members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), and the Montego Bay Municipal Police, have been patrolling the streets of the Corporate Area, Montego Bay and Portmore, which are being targeted under the pilot project.
“We are looking out for persons who urinate, persons who will just eat and throw the box anywhere, whether they are in a bus, a car or just on foot. We are looking for persons who just put up posters all over the place, even sometimes on traffic signs.. We are looking for persons who drink, probably a beer or something, and just throw that bottle and break it indiscriminately,” Miss Davis said. She explained that under the National Solid Waste Management Act, 2001, offenders are to be given fixed penalty notices, which take the form of litter tickets. Under the Act, such persons are liable to fines ranging from $2,000 to $10,000.
Miss Davis said that so far, the Authority has been exercising lenience, using the pilot phase which ends on June 30 mainly for sensitization and for reminding persons that littering constitutes a legal offence. Come July 1, the programme will be fully rolled out in all parishes. Addressing the concern that the enforcement of this aspect of the Act would be short-lived, Miss Davis affirmed that, “we are going to sustain it.”
She pointed out that wanton littering incurred extra budgetary costs that the Authority would want to reduce through compliance by citizens. “Those boxes add up. It (littering) means extra sweeping and extra pick-up have to take place, so it impacts on our budget, and so.we are going to ensure that this is sustained,” she stressed.
Meanwhile, the thrust to reduce littering will be supported by the provision of more garbage receptacles in strategic places. “We are going to roll out more receptacles in very short order.we are going to put additional drums in the town centres,” informed Miss. Davis.
Continuing, she pointed out that, “there are a number of sanitary conveniences that are strategically placed and are in service, and we are asking people to use them.”
Miss Davis appealed to the public to comply, explaining that the main objective “is to see that Jamaica is clean and beautiful.”
“We are just hoping that very soon, we will see and feel the difference,” she said.