Mavis Bank residents forced to dump and burn garbage

Following a major breakaway along the Gordon Town main road, St Andrew, in November last year, which disrupted solid waste collection by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to many other communities, including Mavis Banks, residents are being forced to burn their garbage.

The residents say they are aware that in addition to being illegal, burning of the waste presents potential health hazards, but is the only way to reduce other public health risks, including the threats from rodents.

Aretha McFarlane of the NSWMA says the agency is well aware of the situation and the agency has been working to find solutions, but there is no quick fix in sight. A test run of the alternative route along the Savage Pen main road by an NSWMA team led by their deputy fleet manager, found that it was not a viable option.

With careful handling, their truck was able to make it down the steep and winding road, but getting back up, especially when laden with garbage, was very difficult, she admitted.

“It is very risky for life and property because even the driver, who is very experienced, could barely manage to get the truck up that road, so it is in fact a challenge.

“We are still looking into the Mavis Bank situation, but we still have not got our finger on a solution for it yet; but we have not forgotten Mavis Bank. We are still working on a solution and are in dialogue with our partners at the National Works Agency to see how soon we are going to have some normality so we can continue to do what we are mandated to do.”

SPILLING INTO ROADWAY

President of the Mavis Bank Community Development Committee (CDC), Oval Dixon, said that after the NSWMA trucks stopped coming, the garbage pileup at the regular collection point became a problem since it would spill out into the roadway, posing a risk for motorists and pedestrians alike.

The residents then took a collective decision to dig two pits nearby to store their garbage and burn it, whenever the piles got too high. Ironically, this activity takes place right next to a poster which warns about the dangers of burning garbage. One of the pits is 15-feet deep, and Dixon says the residents had no choice but to go this route.

“We all know that it is not good to burn garbage, but we have no choice because we have no truck to come collect the garbage; so we still struggling with how to get rid of our garbage in a safe and sustainable way. We don’t know long it will take for the road to be fixed, so for now this is our temporary situation here to deal with the garbage in the community.”

McFarlane is encouraging Mavis Bank residents to use organic waste, such as peeling skins and the leftovers from fruits and vegetables, to make compost and to try and store plastic bottles and other solid waste, reuse them or store where it is practicable to do so, without harbouring insects and rodents.

“We don’t encourage burning, but the challenge does exist. We are still looking at other alternatives, though, in the meantime to see how best we can alleviate that problem but haven’t come up with the right solution yet, because access is still a challenge.”

Dixon, however, told The Gleaner that he made contact with a local company which has expressed an interest in collection the glass bottles in which white rum and other spirits are sold, for recycling. In addition, the CDC is looking into collecting and storing the PET plastic bottles and making an arrangement with recycling companies as an income-generation initiative.

All this, however, will have to wait until the roadway linking the cut-off communities of East Rural St Andrew is restored.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com