Massive West Kingston Clean-Up under NSWMA’s Pass di Broom Campaign

Residents of West Kingston are now enjoying a cleaner, more pleasant environment following the removal of bulky waste, derelict vehicles and backlogged garbage from several communities on Thursday (May 8).

The major clean up activity was done by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) under its new ‘Pass di Broom’ campaign.

Several truckloads of household garbage and bulky wastes such as old cars and refrigerators were removed from Upper and Lower Regent streets, Bond Street, Spanish Town Road, Golden Heights, Beeston Street, North Street, among other areas.

West Kingston is the first community to benefit from the Pass di Broom initiative, which aims to promote environmental responsibility and community pride, by engaging residents in cleaning their surroundings.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, who joined residents and volunteers in the clean-up exercise, said the campaign was started in West Kingston because of the large volume of waste generated by the bustling commercial activities in the area.

“West Kingston is the centre of the commercial life of the country. Of the 19 markets in Kingston and St Andrew, 13 are in West Kingston. We have the May Pen Cemetery, we have the oil refinery, we have the Bank of Jamaica, we have the Parliament, we have the courts. It is the commercial life of the country, and that is why we generate so much garbage in the constituency – commercial and residential,” he pointed out.

He said that while there have been improvements in efforts by residents and businesses to properly dispose of garbage, there is still room for improvement.

He made an appeal for residents of West Kingston and the wider Jamaica to containerise their garbage.

“As a Member of Parliament, I am willing to provide the bags for you to contain your garbage because once you do that it makes the work of your fellow Jamaicans much easier,” Minister McKenzie said.

He encouraged Jamaicans to support the initiative, which, he noted, will continue across the island in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, in his remarks, NSWMA Executive Director, Audley Gordon, outlined the cultural significance of the Pass di broom initiative.

“We used to cut broom weed and use it to sweep the yard and everybody enjoyed sweeping up. Nobody saw it as offensive because sweeping up was godliness. We saw it as something good. We want to bring back some of the good things of the past, and one was that every yard had a broom, and we went out and we cleaned up our space,” he pointed out.

The NSWMA head stressed that the programme is not just about the removal of bulky waste and derelict vehicles but is geared towards raising awareness about proper waste disposal practices and encouraging long-term community stewardship.

“We are trying to impact attitude [and] we are trying to change behaviour, because unless all of us come together, it’s going to be awfully difficult for the 4,000 men and women at the agency to clean Jamaica. It has to be a partnership and this morning we are here in West Kingston to court a partnership with the people of the area,” Mr. Gordon said.

Symbolically handing the broom to Minister McKenzie, he informed that “we intend to pass the broom to all public officials who will accept the broom. So, if you are on the side of a clean Jamaica, we will be giving you a broom at some point in time”.