Garbage pile-up sparks outbreak fears in Blackstonedge
Published:Tuesday | December 30, 2025 | 12:09 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
Fears of a disease outbreak are mounting in Blackstonedge, St Ann, where residents say they are being forced to live alongside uncollected garbage and are now pleading for urgent intervention from the waste and health authorities.
“We’re asking even if the garbage can be collected at least once per month. That’s all we’re asking. We don’t ask for much. Just collect the garbage at least once per month, where persons can come and place the garbage in the garbage skip and have it collected,” said Jervis Hamilton, a member of the Community Development Committee.
Residents say garbage has been piling up at a community-built skip since September, creating a stench, attracting rats and stray dogs, and prompting some residents to burn refuse in the absence of regular collection.
“We have passed the skip, and we have seen rats running to and from the garbage skip; and given the state that we are in now with the outbreak of leptospirosis, we are very concerned,” he told The Gleaner.
The prolonged absence of garbage collection has also prompted unsafe disposal practices as frustration grows.
“I don’t think people in the community are properly sensitised about how to dispose of their garbage,” Hamilton said. “So everything they have, they would place in a garbage bag or animal feed bag and throw it in the skip, which includes, maybe, even dead animals, and there is a stench coming from it.”
Hamilton said the skip was constructed in 2023 as a Labour Day project after poor garbage disposal was identified as a major community concern under the community priority plan developed with the Social Development Commission.
According to Hamilton, the project was undertaken with the understanding that garbage trucks travelling from Galina in St Mary, then through Moneague and Walkerswood, would collect waste from the skip.
“That was the agreement, but the only times the garbage was collected were the times we personally paid the truck collectors,” Hamilton said.
He explained that residents pooled funds on three occasions to pay for the removal of the waste, but once those resources were exhausted, the garbage remained and continued to accumulate.
Hamilton said appeals have been made to their political representatives at both levels, but residents are still awaiting a response.
The community has also contacted the St Ann Municipal Corporation and was advised to submit a formal letter to the chief executive officer. Hamilton said the letter has been drafted and will be submitted this week.
With no regular collection, residents have sometimes resorted to burning the garbage, a practice Hamilton said has worsened air quality and added to the health risks.
Chief Public Health Inspector Grayson Hutchinson, when contacted, admitted that the pile-up of garbage poses a genuine public health threat, particularly in light of national concerns about rodent-borne illnesses.
“We certainly would not want residents to be exposed. Where there is a pile up of garbage, there is a real risk, and the situation needs to be remedied as quickly as possible,” Hutchinson said.
He also cautioned that burning refuse can aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma, bronchitis and sinusitis due to air pollution.
Consequently, he recommended that the matter be urgently addressed.
Daniel Evans, regional manager at NEPM Waste Management Limited, which operates under the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), said he was not aware of any such claims.
“We don’t condone that at all. We are paid by the Government to do the work,” Evans said.
However, Evans acknowledged that poor road conditions in Blackstonedge have significantly hindered collection efforts, particularly since Hurricane Melissa.
“Before the hurricane, we used to collect the garbage. After the hurricane, the road deteriorated to the point where our compactors cannot safely navigate the area,” he said.
Evans said NEPM plans to deploy a tipper truck to access the community and clean up the area as soon as possible, with collection expected within 48 hours.
He noted that he had been made aware of the situation and that an assessment had been done.
NSWMA Public Relations Officer Shanae Peart confirmed that she visited the community on December 16 and that the matter was referred to NEPM for action.