The Editor, Sir:Since I manage a small plaza, I am obliged by the provision of the anti-litter law to provide a garbage skip to service the needs of the tenants.
Not long after I installed the skip, more than six moths ago, the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) removed a corroded bottomless garbage skip it had previously provided for use in the area. That skip was located about 90 yards from the plaza. The NSWMA skip has not been on replaced.
As a result, the plaza skip has become the 'community skip' and many of the nearby residents and businesses dump their garbage in, around and on top of the skip, creating an unsightly unhygienic and smelly situation.
Any effort by me to prevent the unlawful dumping has so far placed me in an impossible situation as most persons deposit the garbage after the plaza is closed and oftentimes those who are caught dumping the garbage are defiant, daring anyone to prevent them from using the skip. I have written to various public-cleansing agencies asking for help but to no avail.
One morning recently, the NSWMA truck was late in collecting the garbage. A team of officers from the NSWMA in Kingston came to the plaza and charged one of the shop owners for the garbage that was on the ground. The efforts of the shop owner, myself and the assistant plaza manager to explain why the garbage was on the ground fell on deaf ears. The shop owner was duly served with a summons to attend court.
I would therefore like to ask the NSWMA the following questions:
1. How can you charge someone for littering when your own truck, which is contracted to remove the garbage, is derelict in its duties by arriving late?2. If the NSWMA does not provide skips for taxpayers, business people and residents located in a defined area, how can you charge the plaza owners whose skip is being used by the entire community?3. Since the garbage trucks come at odd hours, how can one be expected to lock away the garbage to prevent access by unauthorised persons?Respectfully,
Disgruntled
