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Illegal Garages to be Targeted in Clean-Up Drive

By: , June 10, 2016

The Key Point:

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, says he will be targeting unregulated garages during the ongoing national clean-up campaign.
Illegal Garages to be Targeted in Clean-Up Drive
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Local Government and Community Development Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie (left) and Medical Entomologist in the Ministry of Health, Sherine Huntley-Jones (second left), point to mosquito larvae in an abandoned tyre on a vacant lot being used as an illegal garage, in Portland. Looking on are Regional Environmental Health Officer in the Ministry of Health, Karen Brown (second right) and Chief Public Health Inspector, Portland, Lorenzo Hume. Occasion was a recent clean-up exercise in Port Antonio.

The Facts

  • The Minister said that most of these garages are located in residential areas, and the owners will feel the full force of the law.
  • The Minister said he is quite satisfied with the response of residents in the campaign who have taken out their old refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and other bulky items to be transported to the dumps.

The Full Story

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, says he will be targeting unregulated garages during the ongoing national clean-up campaign.

The Minister also said that owners of land being used as illegal dumps will also be targeted.

Speaking with JIS News, Mr. McKenzie noted that unregulated garages, especially those which use adjacent open lots to dump old cars, car parts and tyres, provide opportunities for mosquitoes to breed.

The Minister said that most of these garages are located in residential areas, and the owners will feel the full force of the law.

“People will have to understand that if they can’t cooperate voluntarily, then we will have to make them cooperate by using whatever means the law provides,” he said.

The Minister pointed out that such indiscipline has been costly to the Government and people of Jamaica.

“It has cost the Government of Jamaica more than a billion dollars already to eradicate and deal with the challenges posed by mosquitoes.  At the end of the day, it is the Government that people will be complaining to, so we are doing something about it,” he said.

The Minister said he is quite satisfied with the response of residents in the campaign who have taken out their old refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and other bulky items to be transported to the dumps.

Last Updated: June 10, 2016