The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) says onlya few markets are cooperating with it to have their garbage properly disposed of.

Audley McClean, director of operations at the NSWMA, tells The Sunday Gleaner that despite a recent agreement between the councils and the NSWMA to have their garbage collected and disposed of, not many markets have been moving to containerise their garbage in order for the agency to collect and dispose of it.

According to McClean, markets are deemed commercial entities and by law should be disposing of their own waste, but the agency has extended a helping hand to the markets to help them get rid of it.

The agency formerly only offered its services for a fee to the council but took a decision to offer its services to all councils last month, on condition that the markets found ways to contain the garbage.

"When the garbage is not containerised, that makes it difficult for collection. When you go in most of the markets, what you see is garbage put up in a heap and that forces our men to have contact with the garbage, which is against guidelines," says McClean. He says the garbage needs to be put in skips or large containers that can be easily lifted by cranes and dumped into trucks.