In the dumps!
GOVERNMENT NEEDS to get out of the wastemanagement business. We acknowledge the timeliness of the recent call by the powerful business umbrella group, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), urging the Government to proceed to divestment of the country’s waste-management system.
Waste management efforts have generally failed to keep our cities and towns clean, and, by extension, our population in good health. We are generating more waste, and the majority of Jamaicans have a poor attitude towards waste disposal. The concept of ‘use and toss’ results in uncontrolled dumping along sidewalks, in culverts, and gully courses. Among the human implications are possible infestation of mosquitoes and vermin as well as a threat to marine life and the groundwater.
Even though there is an anti-litter law on the books, it is rarely enforced. An impending ban on single-use plastics will further test the resolve of the authorities to enforce rules and regulations.
URBAN BLIGHT
The frustration with rotting garbage, as expressed by citizens of Drewsland and reported in this newspaper, is replicated all over the country, where overflowing skips and gullies, choked with scandal bags bearing human waste, are features of everyday life. The build-up of waste is causing land and air pollution and forms part of the urban blight.
While acknowledging that their own actions add to the dilemma, the citizens complain that infrequent collection and the lack of appropriate containers leave them little option but to discard their waste in the gullies. We are reminded that in 2006, the National Solid Waste Management Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund accepting responsibility for solid waste and sanitation services to all communities.
The kind of logistical knowledge and scientific expertise required to effectively plan and efficiently execute a proper waste-management and recycling programme have never been applied by our governments. The closest we came to having a working system was under the Edward Seaga administration, which created Metropolitan Parks and Markets.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Managing waste is at the core of sustainable development. And though poor waste management is one of the biggest obstacles to Jamaica’s development, it has never been treated with the seriousness it deserves. Just look at the kind of management which has been dedicated to waste management in recent times. We find a collection of politicians, mostly those who have failed and who have no formal training in waste management. In other words, political affiliation is considered sufficient to run these organisations.
The assortment of dilapidated trucks seen picking up garbage around the city is a strong indication of a system in need of urgent modernisation to bring it into environmental compliance. Does the Government have the resources to acquire the infrastructure for this? If the answer is no, then it is time for the Government to invite the private sector to step in.
The implications are that householders and businesses may be required to pay to have their trash removed. This is adding another layer of taxes to an already heavily taxed society. Surely, there are some affluent communities which may see this is as a necessary expense if they are guaranteed more efficient management of their waste. They may then be able to offset the cost for the innercity communities.
In the final analysis, it will take the concerted efforts of all sectors to ensure the proper generation, collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal of garbage. It demands creative thinking and meaningful investments to develop the kind of integrated waste-management system to address these problems.