KSAMC cites improvements in post-carnival cleanup

While commending the organisers of the 2025 Jamaica Carnival series, Chief Executive Officer of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), Robert Hill, says there are still areas in the capital city where paint and carnival paraphernalia remain and need to be cleaned up.

"There has been a vast improvement in terms of the painted areas inundated, particularly coming from complaints from the residents, along the routes of the j'ouvert march. There are still some areas, in New Kingston and Half-Way Tree, and road signs that are still marked with the j'ouvert paint, " said Hill, noting that he hoped those would be rectified in as short a time as possible.

This year's carnival celebration, he said, is a vast improvement over last year's, and he lauded the organisers whom he said have been working under the stewardship of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to tidy up the capital city. Hill was speaking on Sunday night, as clean-up crews worked to restore the city following the main road march earlier.

Late into the night, the workers were busy sweeping, wiping, and stuffing garbage into bags along the roadway to await pickup. Initially, Hill said the plan was to have each of the bands travel with a designated clean-up crew, but that was later forfeited for another approach.

"What we are seeing here is the evidence of a [joint] effort which has borne fruit to ensure that the city is back to normal as best as possible," said Hill.

It was not immediately clear whether the KSAMC had done an additional assessment of the situation on Monday.

Chairman of the Tourism Linkages Sports and Entertainment Network and Co-chair of Carnival in Jamaica Stakeholders Committee Kamal Bankay, projected that Sunday's carnival would have seen a 10 per cent increase on the 2024 record year, with as many as 10,000 documented revellers on the roadway.

- Corey Robinson

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