PM Urges Proper Disposal of Garbage
By: November 1, 2016 ,The Key Point:
The Facts
- “Every time we drink a soda and we take that plastic bottle and throw it into the gully it ends up clogging our drains and creating flooding. Plastics do not degrade very quickly,” he noted.
- Mr. Holness urged members of industry to use new technology and add new chemicals to the plastic to speed up the degradation process.
The Full Story
Prime Minister, the Most. Hon. Andrew Holness, says every Jamaican has a personal responsibility to properly dispose of their garbage.
He noted that the irresponsible disposal of plastics in particular is creating an environmental problem.
“Every time we drink a soda and we take that plastic bottle and throw it into the gully it ends up clogging our drains and creating flooding. Plastics do not degrade very quickly,” he noted.
The Prime Minister was addressing a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister on Monday (October 31) to announce the appointment of an Enterprise Team to identify a preferred waste management provider for the Riverton Landfill.
Mr. Holness urged members of industry to use new technology and add new chemicals to the plastic to speed up the degradation process.
He further encouraged the separation of plastic containers from regular garbage for collection by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) or other entity.
“There are many places doing recycling now that you can provide that (plastics) to on a commercial basis,” he pointed out.
The Prime Minister also appealed to commercial entities to use the regulated agencies such as the NSWMA to remove their waste.
The nine-member Enterprise Team is chaired by Lyttleton Shirley, and is charged with managing the process of establishing a waste-to-energy system in Jamaica and contracting solid waste collection and management services.
Other team members are: Deputy Chairman, Dr. Milton Clarke from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF); Milverton Reynolds, Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ); Rochelle Dacres, Ministry of Finance and the Public Service; Fitzroy Vidal, Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology; Dr. Kerrine Senior, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA); Audley Gordon, NSWMA; Patrick Gordon, Mechanical Engineer; and Paul Tai, Attorney.