NSWMA Head Encourages Jamaicans to Get Copy of Citizens’ Guide

As Jamaicans prepare to participate in cleanup activities on Labour Day, May 23, the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is urging them to get a copy of its Citizens’ Guide.

The document is available for download via the entity’s website at www.nswma.gov.jm.

In an interview with JIS News, Executive Director at the NSWMA, Audley Gordon, said the guide, titled ‘Working Together for a Clean and Beautiful Nation: Citizens’ Guide’, is a useful tool that outlines best practices on how to treat with solid waste.

“We ask the public to read it and work with us to ensure that it’s not just something put on paper and then put on a shelf, but that it is lived – it becomes a way of life,” said Mr. Gordon, noting that Citizens’ Guide is a welcome addition to the work being done by the NSWMA to ensure a clean Jamaica.

The Citizens’ Guide covers areas such as bulky waste, household waste, e-waste, plastic waste, containerisation and storage, composting, among others.

“It (Citizens’ Guide) is to show the citizens what to expect from us and what we ought to expect from them. So, it is telling you, this is how you should treat with your solid waste; this is what you can do at source or should do at source,” Mr. Gordon said.

He informed that on Labour Day, there are persons who, after cleaning up, often put the garbage on the roadway, a practice which he stressed is “unacceptable”.

“If you are cleaning up for Labour Day, for example, your community comes together and you are doing stuff, we would rather [it] be done in a structured manner,” said Mr. Gordon, adding that by doing so, persons are better able to make the necessary arrangements as to “whether you are going to have a locally contracted truck move your [garbage] to the disposal site or if you are not going to move, depending on what you have, you are going to get into a composting arrangement at the community level.”

He pointed out that if residents choose to go the route of composting, the NSWMA is prepared to provide guidance once adequate notice is given.

“Don’t just rake up, scrape up, bag up [and] put everything on the sidewalk and leave it, because that wouldn’t be the completion of the job, that wouldn’t be the end of your duty,” the Executive Director stressed, noting that “Jamaica’s beauty is our collective duty.”

To learn more about the Citizens’ Guide or to find out how to get a physical copy, persons may contact the NSWMA by calling 876-448-3220.

The Citizens’ Guide was first distributed at the launch of the ‘Klean Kingston’ initiative on March 1 in downtown Kingston. The initiative formed part of the national ‘Clean City’ programme, which aims to remove garbage and address the illegal disposal of waste in all parish capitals and major town centres.