Sanitation Service Authority’s (SSA) Public Relations Office, Carl Padmore speaking to the media at Walronds, Christ Church where the SSA crews were removing illegally dumped garbage.
No letting up!
Sanitation Service Authority’s (SSA) Public Relations Office, Carl Padmore says authorities will not be easing up on persons who have been illegally dumping garbage across the island.
His comments came yesterday while speaking to the Press at Walronds, Christ Church where in cart roads on both sides of the main stretch, large piles of bulk waste could found. The piles comprised items such as car parts, household appliances, dead animals, bags of manure and old lumber.
The bushy tracks, which are traversed by individuals exercising or hiking, at the time were being cleared by the SSA. A bobcat and four trucks were used by the 10 SSA personnel who were on the job. Padmore indicated the SSA cleared the area three months prior and acting on a tip-off, returned to area to find the piles. He anticipated “between eight to ten loads will be removed from this area” on this occasion.
“We are hoping to track down some of those who would have been responsible here. We have identified some names. The thing is to track them and… if I was one of those illegal [dumpers], I would come to Carl Padmore before Carl Padmore gets to you because when I come, I am coming with the Minister and I am coming with the law because we are not easing up on this.”
Padmore added that the Minister of the Environment, Adrian Forde and Attorney General, Dale Marshall “are going to be revisiting the laws so that the law will have more teeth in dealing with illegal dumpers and the Minister is also working close with some technical persons to see how we can track these illegal dumpers. Illegal dumpers leave a trace and we want to serve them notice that we are coming after them.”
The SSA PRO said the trash dumped is not only an eyesore but a problem because it becomes a breeding ground for rodents and mosquitoes. He also stated the use of trucks by the SSA to clean-up the illegal dumping sites is a use of key resources that could “be better place in communities that have house to house bulk waste”.
He urged landowners to fence or chain their lots to prevent them from being used as sites where persons illegally dump items. He additionally appealed to “those who own the property” at Walrond, Christ Church “to barricade the entrance to these areas because if you barricade it those who hike can still pass through, those who are riding the bicycles they can pass through but it will now be a deterrent for those with the trucks. So this is what you have to do, you have to secure your property.”(MG)