Leonardo Blair, Staff Reporter ILLEGAL DUMPING of used household furniture, electrical appliances and house rubble from construction projects in sections of Portmore, St. Catherine, has forced councillors and others concerned to appeal for an end to the practice.
"It has been a problem from as far back as I can remember," said Mr. Curn Harding, vice-chairman of the Portmore Joint Citizens Association and the Cumberland Citizens Association.
"The disposal of construction rubble is one of the biggest problems we have had... It always amazes me how someone can spend $2 million on their house to make it look nice and yet see no problem in dumping around it," he said in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday.
Mr. Harding also explained that many persons conducting home improvement projects have found it cheaper to pay "a little man $200 -$300" to dump the refuse in open lots instead of visiting the appropriate dump sites.
When sections of Cumberland and Portmore Gardens in the community were visited yesterday, the result of good housekeeping was littered along roadways and had converted open lots into huge dumping grounds harbouring rats, mongooses and various stray animals. In some areas, mini-heaps of concrete refuse were made just a few feet across the road from newly-built homes.
Old stoves, cars, refrigerators, bathtubs, washtubs, washing machines, toilets, tree and shrub trimmings heaped in, or spotting green areas, created a macabre scene.
"We are asking residents to desist from dumping," said Claudine Brown, councillor for the Westchester Division. "We are bawling out!"
The councillor explained that with the assistance of Metropolitan Parks and Markets (MPM), which oversees the disposal of waste in the community, they have cleared scores of old cars and refuse from along roadways on numerous occasions, but their actions appear to have been taken by residents as an invitation to replace the refuse. The situation, she said, is getting out of control and is putting a strain on the Council's budget.
Residents need to start making arrangements, if they intend to make structural improvements to their homes, to have their rubble transported to the legal Riverton City Dump site. They are also calling on the authorities to put more teeth into the Anti-Litter Act.
