NSWMA Says Streets in St. Catherine Will be Kept Clean

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is assuring residents of St. Catherine that with the addition of new trucks to the fleet of the agency the streets will be kept clean, starting with the main roads.

Customer Service Manager at the MPM Waste Management Limited, Sashay Reid, said MPM has embarked on a programme to have the parish “totally clean,” but householders should assist the process by reducing, where they can, the amount of waste generated.

“Our responsibility is to ensure that we collect, transport and dispose of garbage in an environmentally safe manner, and with the additional resource that we have, we will see an improvement,” she told the recent monthly meeting of the St. Catherine Municipal Corporation in Spanish Town.

The Government recently equipped the cleansing agency with 50 new trucks and 10 motorcycles, valued at approximately US$6.9 million, to boost garbage collection across the island.

Ms. Reid urged residents not to place plastic bottles with regular garbage, as they must be separated for recycling.

Responding to concerns over the disposal of medical waste, she said this is special garbage, and should not be collected by the NWSMA trucks, adding that operators of these entities should make arrangements for this waste to be transported to facilities where they can be appropriately disposed.

Ms. Reid said there is a growing number of illegal disposal sites across the island, and the agency will be strengthening its partnership with the Municipal Corporations to have regular enforcement drives, as they have received additional enforcement officers.

Citizens are encouraged to use the NSWMA mobile app to report instances of littering, illegal dumping, and uncollected garbage, and to access waste management information, by visiting iOS or Android play stores and typing ‘NSWMA’.

The mobile app was created to provide a centralised space where users can voice concerns and suggestions, with the assurance that they will have them addressed through the proper channels and resolved as quickly as possible.