Minister Mckenzie Announces National Cleanup Campaign

A national cleanup campaign will be undertaken following the devastation caused across the island by Hurricane Melissa.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, said he will announce the roll out of the initiative later this week.

“A part of any recovery must be keeping our cities, towns and communities clean,” he said, while addressing a special media briefing at Jamaica House on November 3.

He informed that the initiative will be led by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), with the participation of several key agencies, including the National Works Agency (NWA), Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Social Development Commission (SDC) and the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information.

“The SDC will be responsible for coordinating community activities throughout, and this will be a call for national duty, for national response. The country will require the full support [and] participation of all Jamaicans in this exercise,” he said.

Minister Mckenzie, who visited St. Elizabeth on Saturday (Nov. 1) said “what I saw was devastating,” emphasising the importance of unity in the recovery process.

“This is the time when all of Jamaica [should come together] and I am going to be reaching out to my opposition counterpart [Natalie Neita-Garvey] to invite her to the meeting to discuss the cleanup exercise because we are taking a national approach,” he said.