NSWMA urges Cassava Piece residents to meet in the middle on garbage collection
Published:Thursday | April 3, 2025 | 12:12 AMMickalia Kington/Gleaner Writer
As trash accumulates in the Constant Spring Gully, ready to be washed down to the Kingston Harbour by the rain, residents of Cassava Piece battle against rats, roaches and stray animals when the garbage truck allegedly disappears for weeks at a time, despite having a schedule.
However, Aretha McFarlane, director of operations at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), declared the opposite. Stating that the residents also have responsibilities, she said yesterday that if the garbage truck doesn’t come to their gates, they must cooperate with environmental wardens, such as Janice Hinds Lake Fray, who are placed in these communities.
“Now, the initiative we have started about a year ago in this particular community is to educate the residents and take the garbage off them, so they don’t put it in the gullies. We are watching this programme, because we intend to replicate it right across Jamaica. But this has to work first,” said McFarlane.
The warden’s duty is to collect the garbage for them and bring it to the garbage truck, but this only works when residents adhere to the Wednesday and Saturday collection days and place their garbage at their gates.
While the NSWMA has to play its part, McFarlane is urging the residents to at least meet them halfway. Despite this arrangement, there seems to be a disconnect, as one resident, Paul Wilson, barely remembers the last time his garbage was collected by anyone.
“We nah get none (garbage truck) over here and when we do, it’s once in a blue moon,” said Wilson, who is now 61 years old and grew up with improper garbage collection since he was a 15-year-old teen living in the community.
“Sometimes we have problems with the truck. More time we not even see the truck fi all weeks. And when dem do come, dem might come with all a small truck, and it just go up there [and turn back]. It can’t hold all of the rubbish from the community,” he continued.
The size of the truck wouldn’t be a problem if the truck returned later in the day after dumping the garbage, but, according to Wilson, “When the truck come and go weh, we don’t see dem again, and the rubbish stay there, and the people dem leave out the rubbish on the road.”
In the meantime, the residents have to resort to illegal burning at a small dump site located in the lane. Otherwise, they dump the garbage into the gully and hope for the rain to wash it into the sea, therefore creating a clean slate for a new illegal dumping cycle.
A reflex action
Meanwhile, Hinds Lake Fray said that she has witnessed what she describes as a reflex action by the residents. “When I go there, I catch them [throwing the garbage in the gully]. I will talk, but dem no business. They had a meeting just the other day and the truck was right there collecting, and a one girl just come with the rubbish and throw it over there, same place! It’s like it’s automatic.”
McFarlane’s disappointment was evident as she pleaded with residents to play their part in taking care of their health.
“So, midway in this initiative, we see where we need to go back in and desensitise and do more work, public education work with the residents, to get the dumping stopped,” McFarlane declared.
What some people call an ‘uptown ghetto’, Cassava Piece is located in the vicinity of the Constant Spring Gully in St Andrew.
Structurally underdeveloped with narrow, unpaved roads, the garbage truck struggles to traverse the lane. When the garbage gets to a point where the truck can no longer fit it all, they are forced to turn back, leaving too many community members with piles of uncollected waste.
Wake-up call
Speaking with The Gleaner, McFarlane warned the residents of the implications of illegal dumping, which can attract up to a $10,000 fine or six months’ imprisonment. However, the NSWMA is working to have those fines increased, and establish stricter penalties.
“We don’t want that to be the first approach. We want to get the cooperation from the people, and for them to do the right thing so we don’t have to hit them in the pockets.”
During the visit to the community yesterday, McFarlane encouraged residents to use it as a wake-up call and learn the garbage collection schedule.
While some residents believed this issue was due to the NSWMA’s negligence, McFarlane claimed she herself ensured the garbage trucks visited regularly.
“Some persons are trying to pass blame, of course … . But we know our schedule and what we have been doing since we have gotten environmental wardens in the community. The truck has been coming,” she said.
However, when multiple residents argued that the truck hasn’t been there for weeks, she quickly disputed these allegations, saying, “I am sure (that the truck is coming) because I personally drive here and monitor that quietly. So that’s not true, because I have seen the truck, and there are instances when I pass the truck out there, stop with the crew and just touch base with them.”
Despite the slight tension, she said, “For what it’s worth, I believe we are getting through to people. We may have to do some more of this, because culture just don’t change overnight. It may very well take some more of this kind of joint effort with other entities, sensitising residents. Let us teach them and see how best they accept and implement.”
The walk-through followed a stakeholder meeting held on March 26, which addressed the persistent issue of illegal garbage dumping in the Cassava Piece community, particularly in the gully.
Despite MPM’s sustained efforts, such as public education initiatives, placement of garbage drums, deployment of environmental wardens, and increased garbage collection, the problem persists.
The walk-throughs are aimed at assessing the current situation firsthand and engage directly with community members and stakeholders to identify more effective solutions.
Finally, McFarlane declared, “This is where we live. This is where we have to raise our children. And this is where we have to, you know, exist. So we don’t want this (illegal dumping). And that’s our push, our message today, to educate the people. This is not good for you. We don’t want this for you. And you have to play your part in taking care of your community, because waste management is our collective duty.”