Regional Operations Manager at Western Parks and Markets (WPM) Waste Management Limited, Garnet Edmondson.

Regional Operations Manager at Western Parks and Markets (WPM) Waste Management Limited, Garnet Edmondson, is encouraging citizens to log on to WPM’s new website for information about waste management services, including its collection schedule.

He said that the launch of the website is aimed at further engaging the citizenry of Western Jamaica in waste management.

“Our website has everything about us, including our domestic waste collection. You will see what is happening at our landfills and, most importantly, you will see the schedule for our collection days.

“You will see your inspectors, the persons who are responsible for your waste collection, their numbers and their photos. You will also see a number of things that we are doing in communities.  So our website promises to be a very interactive one,” Mr. Edmondson said.

He was addressing the ‘Let’s Talk Waste Separation’ webinar hosted by WPM on Thursday (June 3).

The website includes career information and a section where persons can pay tickets for littering.

Mr. Edmondson said that the new website provides a medium where citizens can advise MPM about their waste management challenges, so that these can be addressed.

“Our successful management of waste in the west is about 70 per cent communication and we find that keeping our citizenry informed is very important,” he noted.

The webinar was held to discuss waste separation and to encourage citizens to recycle their plastic waste.

It involved collaboration with the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Montego Bay Marine Park Trust and Recycling Partners of Jamaica.

During the session, citizens were encouraged to place their plastic bottles in recycling bins that have been installed in the Fairview area of Montego Bay, St. James and Falmouth, Trelawny in conjunction with Recycling Partners of Jamaica.

Source: JIS

Western Parks and Market (WPM) Waste Management Limited is urging residents of St. James to separate plastic containers from their regular household waste in order to reduce the high volume of plastics at the Retirement landfill.

WPM’s Regional Operations Manager, Garnet Edmondson, said that plastics not only harm the environment but intensify fires at the landfill.

“When it goes to the landfill and should there be a fire, those plastics enhance the burning and give us less control in the event of a spontaneous combustion or other fire at the landfill,” he pointed out.

Mr. Edmondson was speaking at the recent monthly meeting of the St. James Municipal Corporation.

The WPM’s Regional Operations Manager said that the agency has ramped up its fight against plastic pollution but needs the public’s support in the process.

“We are on a journey and we want persons to join us on this journey of taking the harmful plastic out of our environment,” he noted.

He said that the entity is undertaking activities during the year to encourage plastic separation, starting with the ‘Our Love for the Environment’ initiative on February 14, and on Labour Day (May 23), and Solid Waste Day in June.

Mr. Edmondson also called on householders to invest in a storage container specifically for the collection of plastic containers. He assured that once collected, the WPM will dispatch a fleet to pick up the containers.

“Get the plastics in those receptacles, bag them, and reach out to us. We have three vehicles available to pick up all those plastics,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Mr. Edmondson informed that 800 pounds of plastic bottles were collected from the communities of Ramble Hill, West Gate Hill, and Meadows of Irwin on Global Recycling Day, which was observed on March 18.

The WPM is a regional arm of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and is responsible for waste collection in Trelawny, St. James, Hanover, and Westmoreland.

Source: JIS

Western Parks and Markets (WPM) Waste Management Limited has implemented strict protocols to maintain efficient service delivery while safeguarding employees and the public against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Regional Operations Manager, Garnet Edmondson, said that measures implemented at WPM’s offices in St James, Westmoreland and Trelawny include: mandatory sanitising of hands upon entering the buildings to guard against the virus’ transmission.

Additionally, he said the entity’s garbage trucks have been outfitted with hand-washing apparatus while sanitation staff has been equipped with the necessary protective gear for use in the field.

“We are washing down our trucks once per day and spraying them with the necessary sanitisation material. While we are doing that, we continue to disseminate information to all staff members so as to prevent any panic,” Edmondson informed.

Meanwhile, in a bid to further protect sanitation workers, he is imploring persons experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to double the number of bags used to deposit solid waste containing used tissue, gloves, face masks, and diapers.

“Because of the nature of their jobs, sanitisation workers interface with the waste directly. So we are asking that persons take care in terms of double-bagging waste,” the operations manager added.

He further indicated that measures have been instituted at the Retirement waste disposal site in St James to ensure its continued operation, in the event any employee contracts the virus.

Emergency tipping space

“We have the staff practising the sanitisation procedures. However, we are also clearing an area that will act as an emergency tipping space.

We have two tractors at our landfill that push, compact and spread; and should those operators fall ill during this crisis, we will still have tipping space for our garbage,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Edmondson advised that WPM is part of the Emergency Operating Centre Committee (EOCC) for St James, which is focused on public sensitisation and protection of employees and other citizens from COVID-19.

Source: The Gleaner

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Western Parks and Markets (WPM) Waste Management Limited has warned restaurant and cook-shop operators that it will be undertaking enforcement activities in the resort city of Montego Bay, which is overrun with rats in some areas.

WPM is a regional arm of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).

Regional Operations Manager at WPM Garnet Edmondson noted that the authority’s enforcement team is now better equipped to carry out its duties.

“We recently received a new Toyota Hilux vehicle that will be a part of our enforcement strategy. It is important, because we are coming around. We are going to be visiting restaurants. We are going to be visiting all the cook shops. You must have that garbage contract. You must show us the last time your garbage was picked up. You must show us that you are registered with the public health department,” Edmondson stressed.

 

“Of course, to have a clean city, you must comply with the rules. So, now that the enforcement arm of WPM is now mobile and will be getting additional resources — thanks to TEF (Tourism Enhancement Fund) — we will be out there to educate and to enforce.”

Edmondson was addressing a WPM symposium for restaurants and cook-shop operators at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre in St James recently.

Earlier this month, the (NSWMA) announced that it had received two vehicles funded by the TEF that will assist the authority’s enforcement team in enforcement activities across four resort towns in western Jamaica.

Source: Jamaica Observer

Western Parks and Markets (WPM) Waste Management Limited officially opened the Cambridge garbage holding area, in St. James, on Friday (January 25).

Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Homer Davis, in his address, charged residents and businesses in the community to take care of the facility.

“I am appealing to the citizens of Cambridge and its environs to use this facility and use it wisely. I am also appealing to the business community, those persons who operate small, medium and large businesses in Cambridge, you also have a responsibility to keep your township clean,” Mayor Davis said.

He also implored the residents to properly dispose of garbage to maintain proper hygiene in their homes and the community at large.

For his part, Regional Operations Manager of WPM, Garnet Edmonson, emphasised that the organisation is serious about waste collection in the area, as such a programme has been put in place for frequent collection of garbage from the holding area.

“We have four skips to hold your solid waste. We have a programme in place to collect the garbage from these skips three times per week. After a month of emptying these skips, we will analyse to see if we need to add additional skips to hold the garbage that is produced in Cambridge. We will still have our trucks traversing the community to take out the household waste,” Mr. Edmonson said.

As part of the day’s activities, the WPM staff removed bulky waste items from the Cambridge community, which could potentially become mosquito-breeding sites.

Representatives from the Western Regional Health Authority also gave presentations on how to prevent and destroy mosquito-breeding sites in and around the home.

Source: JIS

Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Homer Davis, has hailed the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) for its efforts in ridding St. James of solid waste.

“The NSWMA has been relentless in making sure that they educate and work with the citizens. In the last two years, we have had some major clean-up (activities) across the parish (which have resulted in the removal) of a lot of bulky waste,” he said.

Mayor Davis was speaking at the official opening of the Cambridge garbage holding area in the parish on Friday (January 25).

The facility, which currently has four skips, will serve as a central location for the disposal of garbage from around the community.

As part of the day’s activities, the Western Parks and Markets (WPM) staff removed bulky waste items from the Cambridge community, which could provide breeding ground for mosquito.

Representatives from the Western Regional Health Authority also gave a presentation on how to prevent and destroy mosquito breeding sites in and around the home.

Source: JIS

Executive Director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), Audley Gordon, is urging operators of commercial entities to work with the agency to ensure the proper disposal of solid waste.

While the NSWMA is not responsible for the removal of commercial garbage, Mr. Gordon told JIS News that business owners can consult the agency in order to put proper arrangements in place.

He lamented that a number of commercial centres across the island do not have adequate facilities for solid-waste storage and disposal.

As such, he is advising developers to check with the Authority on proper waste-disposal protocol before they begin construction.

“First of all, you should make arrangements when you are building the plaza where the trucks will have access to get the garbage and where the garbage will be housed. All those things have to be included in the planning. We are appealing to commercial entities and developers to get us in on the conversation early when doing these plans, so that the solid waste management can be part of the overall strategy when you are building,” he stressed.

The NSWMA Executive Director warned that persons who continue to litter could face stiffer sanctions under new regulations to come on stream shortly for breaches of the NSWMA Act.

Meanwhile, Senior Investigator for the NSWMA, Phillip Morgan, said that operators of commercial enterprises should ensure that waste and other debris are properly containerised and taken to an approved dump site.

This, he noted, is particularly important for food establishments, which must have a proper waste-disposal system in place in order to be issued a public health certificate to operate.

For persons who contract the NSWMA, Mr. Morgan explained that an agent will visit the establishment to assess waste in terms of how many bags are generated per day or per week, and a rate will then be applied.

“For example, if it is $200 to collect a bag and you generate 10 bags per week, you would pay $2,000 for the collection of waste every week. Persons who prefer to have waste removed from the premises daily will do so for an additional cost,” he said.

Enterprises found in breach of the NSWMA Act will be charged with illegal dumping. This is a prosecutable offence under the law.

Section 45A of the NSWMA Act stipulates that persons who dispose of waste in a manner not approved by the Authority, if found guilty, can be fined up to $1 million or sentenced to a nine-month jail term or both.

“It may start with a ticket fine for littering. The lower end is $2,000 for the person who actually does the littering. For the person who employs the person doing the littering, it is $10,000. But, it may go up to as much as $1 million if brought before the court, and, also, they might face jail time,” Mr. Morgan outlined.

The NSWMA is the regulator of the waste collection industry and is mandated to collect domestic or residential waste.

Arrangements for waste collection and disposal can be made by business operators through the NSWMA’s regional bodies.

These are Metropolitan Parks and Markets (MPM) Waste Management Limited, Southern Parks and Markets (SPM) Waste Management Limited, Western Parks and Markets (WPM) Waste Management Limited; and North Eastern Parks and Markets (NEPM) Waste Management Limited.

Operators can also contract the services of a private waste collector.

Source: JIS