THE NATIONAL Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) will be rehabilitating waste compactors over the next four to five weeks in order to boost lagging garbage collection by mid-December 2002.
In a press release, the Authority blamed equipment breakdowns associated with an ageing fleet and recurring violent flare-ups in several innercity communities for the pile up of garbage in various areas.
The NSWMA, which is responsible for garbage collection within St. Catherine, St. Thomas, Clarendon, Kingston and St. Andrew, said that only half the fleet of waste compactors were available to carry out garbage collection. The other compactors were malfunctioning and require major repairs, the NSWMA said.
"The Authority has noted that violence and civil unrest within innercity communities often result in roadblocks being mounted which prevent collection crews from accessing communities and collection garbage according to schedule. The resulting pile up of garbage then takes longer to be removed and places an additional strain on the scheduled service to other communities," the NSWMA said.
