Christopher Barnett (left) and Odane Kerr, students of Merlene Ottey High School, display their winning banner at the launch of the Sandy Bay Coastal Zone Management Project recently. - photo by Claudia Gardener

Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer

Sandy Bay, Hanover:

The Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU) has undertaken the second phase of its Coastal Zone Solid Waste Management Project aimed at reducing solid waste pollution in Sandy Bay area.

The project, dubbed 'Expansion of Coastal Zone Solid Waste Management Initiatives', is being funded by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica to the tune of $2.8 million.

The venture, which is spearheaded by the youth arms of the Fletchers Grove and Mount Pelier Baptist churches, was triggered by improper solid waste disposal practices in the town as well as inadequate garbage collection.

Said project manager, Lorene Holness Muir: "We are engaging the communities in Sandy Bay and its environs, and we are hoping that at the end, we will have a cleaner town that everyone can be proud of."

Keynote speaker, acting executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority, Christopher Powell, commended the community on the efforts at undertaking what he said was a "mammoth task". He also noted that some contractors were guilty of illegal dumping in some areas. "From time to time, contractors try to cut costs by disposing of large items or large loads of items in wooded or rural areas, on both public and private property".

$1.7b managing solid waste

Mr. Powell added: "Last year alone the Government spent approximately $1.7 billion managing solid waste disposal in Jamaica, and much of this money was spent cleaning up litter and garbage that was left on the roadways in the communities."

In the last population census conducted in 2005 by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, (STATIN), it was reported that of Hanover's 20,283 households, only 12 per cent (2,647) had access to regular garbage collection, while five per cent (978) was found to have, what the STATIN termed, irregular garbage collection.