JAMAICA | Opposition PNP Want Comprehensive Waste Management Solution for Kingston

KINGSTON, Jamaica. April 10, 2024: Shadow Minister of Local Government, Mrs Natalie Neita Garvey, MP, says although she is grateful for the quick action by National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) employees to contain the fire at the Riverton City Dump site, more must be done urgently to limit the possibility of fires from spontaneous combustion at the dump.

In a statement this afternoon, the Shadow Minister said the capital city could not continue to absorb such levels of smoke inhalation on an annual basis as it has major health and business implications. She said Kingston and St. Andrew, as well as Portmore, had serious air quality issues yesterday which particularly affected citizens with respiratory illnesses.

Mrs Neita Garvey said that in the past, the NSWMA had given many assurances of improved practices in its effort to convert the dump site into a sanitary landfill. But, she notes, in the meantime, the city is traumatised annually by the fires and smoke.

She urged the Minister of Local Government, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, MP, to ensure the agency is provided with the necessary financial and technical resources to maintain the dump at a level where fires will not suddenly begin there. "This includes a more serious public education effort to encourage garbage separation at source and continuous covering of material taken to the site daily", the Shadow Minister emphasised.

Mrs Neita Garvey also asked the Minister to provide an update on plans announced by the Prime Minister some time ago to remove the city dump to a new site, which would provide better conditions for waste disposal. "Sufficient time has elapsed for the government to give a status report on this important subject", Mrs Neita Garvey concluded.

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