St James residents still worried about limited garbage collection
Published:Tuesday | December 9, 2025 | 12:08 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Following calls from the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) for citizens to responsibly dispose of their garbage in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, residents of several communities across St James say they remain concerned about the availability of garbage trucks to collect their waste.
The residents cite the growing pile-ups of their uncollected waste, and the risk of animals in their communities accessing the garbage, as reasons why the authorities must take swift action to rectify the issue.
Jason Higgins, a resident of Montego Bay, told The Gleaner that he and other persons have had to take their garbage to a disposal site at Glendevon, both before and after Hurricane Melissa’s passage over Jamaica on October 28.
“Garbage has not been collected from our side of the scheme where I live for over a month now. We have been disposing [of] our garbage by loading it up in the car and taking it to a garbage collection point in Glendevon,” said Higgins.
“I have a full garbage drum from before Melissa, that is at my yard. When I empty it, and any additional garbage, I just carry it to the site out at Glendevon and dump it. That disposal place is filled with garbage because that is where most persons go to dump theirs,” Higgins explained.
Rohan Salmon, of Content district, said he is resorting to burning his bags of garbage, because the longer they go without being collected, the greater the risk that neighbourhood dogs will damage the bags.
“Very seldom does the garbage truck come into my lane, even prior to Hurricane Melissa. As I speak, I have a few bags of garbage on my veranda, and I cannot put them outside, because if I put them out, dogs are going to mess them up. I know that no trucks are coming, so I really plan to burn my garbage,” said Salmon.
Meanwhile, one resident of the Cornwall Courts community said that before her garbage was collected last Friday, more than a month after the hurricane, she and her neighbours had to contend with rats in their dwellings, a major health and safety concern at a time when St James has reported several cases of leptospirosis.
“They came and collected my garbage, and it took them weeks. Prior to that, rats started coming in, and roaches, and the place did smell bad and stink,” said the resident, who requested anonymity. “The bags with garbage were just piling up outside. From ever since the hurricane, it was last week Friday when they came and collected the garbage. But I am happy they came, and I think it was because of the influx of work they had to do in town, and normally we never have garbage piling over like this.”
The citizens’ accounts follow last week’s call from Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon, for residents to properly dispose of their garbage in the interest of health and public safety. At that time, it was reported that the Retirement landfill in St James has been taking up to 400 truckloads of garbage daily, more than its usual 70 loads per day.
Before Hurricane Melissa’s passage, councillors at the StJMC called for improved communication channels between the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and the residents of St James, to facilitate improved and timely collection of household waste. Following the hurricane, the NSWMA issued a call on November 10 for private contractors with tipper and compactor trucks to assist with removing bulky waste and garbage buildup across western Jamaica.