Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer

Garbage piles up in a drain on Willie Delisser Boulevard in Lucea, Hanover. - Photo by Claudia Gardner

Lucea, HANOVER:

Some of Hanover's major stakeholders are again expressing displeasure with what they say is the substandard rate of garbage collection in the parish by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA). The parish, they said, is not getting value for money.

Audley Gilpin, vice-chairman of the Hanover Parish Council, said he was appalled that despite numerous complaints made by the municipality, there has been no improvement. He said the NSWMA had assigned only one garbage truck to the parish despite having received $50 million via property taxes collected within Hanover.

Disadvantage

"One garbage truck for the whole of Hanover? That is untenable. We need at least four. When the garbage truck goes down, there is none for two, three weeks. One garbage truck can't collect all the garbage in Hanover. We are really at a disadvantage. We are not being treated properly," said Mr. Gilpin, who is also councillor of the Lucea division.

"As a matter of fact, we are subsidising other parishes. We are the smallest parish and we are paying them $50-odd million dollars to clean the garbage here. When you work out the amount of tonnage of garbage that we generate here, it is clear that we are subsidising the other parishes," he added.

Also expressing displeasure was Ian Hayles, Member of Parliament for Western Hanover. Mr. Hayles said the collection was inefficient and could deter new investment from coming to the parish.

"NSWMA is very inefficient. There needs to be checks and balances for that organisation. I believe we in Hanover need to create a sort of oversight committee that deals with accountability there," he said.

"They sometimes say trucks have broken down and they don't have backup systems and so NSWMA needs to have its strategies refocused in terms of their mission. We have a real problem where in if we are not careful over the next coming years, garbage will affect our growth in terms of new businesses and new hotels coming into the parish," Mr. Hayles added.

Theo Chambers, president of the Hanover Chamber of Commerce, said the poor collection could have a negative impact on the parish's expanding tourism sector.

"I think it is not acceptable, based on the parish's present focus on investment and new hotel and other attractions coming in," Mr. Chambers said. "It is bad for the health of the residents of the parish and needs to be dealt with immediately."

Poor collection

Anthony Walker, president of the Hanover Parish Development Committee, said the collection was especially poor in the interior communities in the parish.

"The NSWMA trucks don't get off the main roads and so the general collection in the parish is not good. Collection is irregular and is not being properly done, so there is a build-up. It does not make sense. In Grange where I live, for example, a truck comes on Saturdays, but right through the week there is a pile-up and because they have not provided receptacles for proper storage."