By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
COUNCILLOR NOEL Donaldson, the Mayor of Montego Bay, said the Government "appears to lack the seriousness of purpose" required to tackle the many problems ailing the 'Second City'.
In a news release, Mayor Donaldson said that Montego Bay was facing a tremendous garbage problem yet information reaching the St. James Parish Council suggested that four out of 10 garbage compactor trucks were to remain in Kingston even though, he said, they were committed to Montego Bay before their acquisition by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
INADEQUATE COMPACTOR TRUCKS
He said efforts to rid Montego Bay of garbage were being hampered by the inadequacy of compactor trucks.
"Montego Bay is at present drowning in a sea of garbage and the existing dilapidated fleet (of trucks) is unable to cope with the accumulation of garbage in the city," he stated.
The Mayor noted that Western Parks and Market (WPM), the agency responsible for solid waste management, was in dire need of trucks to carry out is operations.
He appealed to Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government and Community Development, to ensure that Montego Bay gets an adequate quota of trucks.
"Nothing short of receiving the trucks previously committed to the city, will be acceptable," he said.
He said it was ironic that the country "takes time to celebrate tourism awareness while ignoring some of the fundamentals, such as garbage collection, which will go a far way in enhancing the very fragile tourism product."
