BLACK RIVER, ST. ELIZABETH
MEMBERS Of the business community in St. Elizabeth have, in recent times, been very critical of the management of Southern Parks and Market (SPM) especially its general manager Gladstone Sealy.
They complain that for the past five months the streets of the parish have been at their worst where the cleaning and disposal of solid waste is concerned. On the streets and in the major towns in the area receptacles can be seen filled with garbage.
However, Mr. Sealy blamed inadequate resources on his organisation's inability to service adequately the routes outside of Santa Cruz, Black River and Junction but stressed that SPM is not responsible for collecting commercial waste without a contract with individual businesspersons.
Nonetheless, some businessmen are adamant that they want him removed from his post.
According to the managing director of Robinson's Enterprise, Barrington Robinson, "We have been suffering where the collection of garbage in the town of Santa Cruz is concerned. In recent times we have been noticing that there has been a massive slowdown in the cleaning and disposal of solid waste in the area."
"We can't continue like this. The town is filthy. We need proper receptacles in the town," Mr. Robinson said.
He believes that if the business district is going to maintain its vibrancy proper garbage management would have to be instilled and "the people at SPM need to come forward and say what is the problem they are having".
Chairman of the St. Elizabeth Parish Development Committee (PDC) and manager of Gayle's Hardware, Merrick Gayle, told The Gleaner that the management of Southern Parks and Market should be put up for scrutiny and that Mr. Sealy's contract should not be renewed because he has failed in his management of the agency.
Mr. Gayle also called on the Minister of Local Government, Youth and Community Development Arnold Bertram to consider privatising the agency because it is not working.
"The St. Elizabeth PDC and the business community are very concerned about the level of solid waste management in the parish. The faithful taxpaying residents are demanding better from the agency," said Mr. Gayle.
When contacted, the general manager of Southern Parks and Markets told The Gleaner that there will definitely be more pile up of garbage in St. Elizabeth. He said only the towns of Santa Cruz, Black River and Junction will have their garbage collected on a daily basis. All other areas will have theirs collected once a month.
"The massive pile up of garbage in the parish should come as no surprise as this was outlined in a document to the St. Elizabeth Parish Council, moreover, SPM is not responsible to collect commercial solid waste, unless the individual businesspersons have a contract with SPM," Mr. Sealy stressed.
The Southern Parks and Market general manager also noted that if the agency were given adequate resources, SPM would have been at liberty to do a better job in the management of solid waste in St. Elizabeth. He said that a minimum of four trucks are needed to serve the parish and at the moment, there is only one truck serving St. Elizabeth.
