OAP told to wheel his bin to the dump

AN ENNISKILLEN pensioner was told to wheel his bin to the recycling centre himself after the Council failed to collect it.

Jim Lucy, from Rossorry Church Road, was left annoyed when his brown bin - and hundreds of others in the Enniskillen area - weren’t lifted as planned on Monday.

And he was even more aggrieved when, as he tried to seek an explanation from the Council, he was asked by a member of staff if he could take the bin to the recycling centre himself.

As a pensioner, Mr. Lucy described that the suggestion as “ridiculous”, and added that as a ratepayer, having his bin collected is the “bare minimum” that should be expected.

Mr. Lucy was one of the countless residents who experienced disruption to brown bin collections on Monday, with residents at Rossorry Church Road, Galigagh Park, Ferney Rise and Springvale also impacted.

“The missed bin collections have caused much annoyance to many residents,” Mr. Lucy said.

“I decided to go to the Townhall in person to raise this issue, and to let them know about the situation.

“I was very surprised when one of the staff asked if I would be able to bring the bin to Drummee myself! I felt that this was an awful attitude to have!

“As a pensioner I feel that this was a ridiculous request. Does this apply to everyone whose bins were missed?

“Can you imagine hundreds of people having to bring their bins to the recycling centre?”

Mr. Lucy added: “As a ratepayer, I feel that bin collections are the bare minimum service we can expect, especially with rate bills getting no cheaper.”

Following the spate of missed collections, Mr. Lucy said that brown bins will not be collected until April 22, despite many already being filled to overflowing.

“To be honest, it’s a bad time for brown bins to be missed,” Mr. Lucy continued.

“At this time of year people will want to be disposing of grass cuttings and garden waste, but won’t have the space.

“Bins are already overflowing, and we are looking at two weeks before they are lifted. It’s simply not good enough.”

When asked for an explanation on the missed bin collections in the Enniskillen area, a Fermanagh and Omagh District Council spokesperson acknowledged that “there has been some disruption to [the] refuse collection service over the past 12 months”.

The Council also provided a statement, which was issued on March 1, on bin disruption.

At the time, the statement read: “We acknowledge that regrettably, some households have experienced ongoing disruption to household bin collection services, mainly in relation to the collection of brown food waste caddies.

“This falls short of the level of service that the Council wishes to provide to householders and which residents rightfully expect.”

The Council were also asked to explain why it was suggested that Mr. Lucy take his bin to Drummee himself. No reply had been received by the time of going to press.