PNP gov't will return garbage collection to municipalities, says Opposition spokesperson

A future People’s National Party (PNP) government will make garbage disposal the responsibility of municipal corporations in order to close the gap between attention given to rural and urban areas, Opposition Spokesperson on Local Government, Natalie Neita Garvey, has stated.

Speaking at a PNP meeting in St Mary on Sunday, she stressed the significance of this service and lamented its absence from many rural communities.

“Some communities in rural parts never see a garbage truck yet. The People’s National Party want to return garbage collection to our municipality so Mayor [Fitzroy] Wilson can mek sure every single community can get garbage collected, suh yuh nuh haffi burn yuh garbage and yuh nuh haffi bury yuh garbage and destroy di environment,” she said.

The National Solid Waste Management Authority, an agency of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, is primarily responsible for garbage disposal.

It has divided the island into four regions for efficient waste management and also contracts with private companies to carry out waste disposal in the regions.

While declaring that “rural lives matter,” Neita Garvey also chastised the ruling Jamaica Labour Party government for what she described as its delay in providing adequate infrastructure to rural communities.

“Mek yuh neva give wi di streetlight over the last nine years. Ah when yuh aguh come outta government ya come gi wi streetlight? Nothing cannot go so,” she said.

She said the PNP will ensure that rural communities are well lit and that this initiative will not be done along partisan lines.

She also committed to the proper maintenance of cemeteries: “The PNP will ensure communities are properly lit, the proper maintenance of cemeteries, providing piped water to rural communities, as well as rebuilding the Highgate Market which was burnt down in 2022.”

“It is good policies that make good programmes that make progress for our people. That is the work of the People’s National Party,” Neita Garvey stated.

The Member of Parliament for St Catherine North Central also cautioned supporters against selling their votes in the election, which is expected next month.

“Nuh mek nobody fool yuh, nuh mek nobody trick yuh, nuh mek nobody tun yuh inna idiot, because yuh can only be bought and sold. If you allow yourself to be bought and sold, you allow yourself to be bought today, tomorrow a morning a man aguh tell yuh seh him buy yuh already suh him nah fi do no work fi yuh,” she said.

She added: “Don’t allow yourself to be bought. You are human beings with dignity. You are Africans and Jamaicans who know what it is to stand up for your rights.”

- Sashana Small

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