The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is reporting that since the passage of Hurricane Ivan on September 10, some 10 parishes are over 90 per cent cleared of debris and accumulated waste material.
The remaining four – Clarendon, Kingston & St. Andrew and St. Catherine – are over 70 per cent cleared.
These figures are outlined in a Hurricane Ivan Clean-Up Report, which was submitted to the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport on October 19.
The NSWMA had implemented clean-up activities regarding waste generation, in preparation for the hurricane as well as any interruption in the normal collection cycle.
The Authority mobilized additional resources in an effort to initiate an effective restoration programme islandwide, and an aspect of the programme was the involvement of zonal contractors in areas with the worst accumulation of storm related debris.
Additional private sector units had been brought into the system to address the increased demand for heavy equipment. Disposal sites islandwide also experienced tremendous surges in the volume of incoming waste and so had to be supplied with additional soil cover and heavy equipment.