Shelly-Ann Thompson, Freelance ReporterWITH ONE of the garbage trucks in St. Thomas out of service, the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) has implemented a garbage collection shift system. Waste is now being collected at night.
For the past two weeks, about 16
communities, including Morant Bay, the
capital, have been benefiting from night collection.
The day shift begins at about 5:00 a.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m., while the night shift starts at 5:30 p.m. and ends 3:00 a.m.
Audley McLean, acting director for operations at the NSWMA, said it was not odd to execute a night collection shift when necessary. "The rationale behind it is that where we have deficiency in trucking capacity we still have to ensure that garbage collection is done in all areas," he said.
DISRUPTIVE
Residents of Albion Estate, one of the affected communities, told The Gleaner that they had heard trucks collecting garbage late at night. Some find the practice disruptive.
Kerry Wilson, a resident of Botany Bay, said it is sometimes inconvenient for her. "I am glad that the garbage is being collected, but I was awakened by the truck and I had to get out of bed, one night after 1:00 a.m. to round up the garbage and bring it out to the gate," she said, noting that she did not keep her garbage bin at her gate as animals usually overturned it.
Mr. McLean said that until full day collection is restored, garbage collection had to be done whenever necessary.
"Certainly, it is best to do it at night than none at all, as if it is not, other problems such as sanitary problems may occur." He said the defective truck is expected to be back in service by early next week, therefore resuming full day collection in the parish.
Some of the affected communities are Port Morant, Seaforth, Red Hills and Bath.
