St James residents urged to carry out proper waste disposal post-Melissa
Jamaica Gleaner | 2025-12-06 | Original Article
WESTERN BUREAU:
As cleanup and restoration efforts continue following Hurricane Melissa’s passage on October 28, the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) is warning St James’ residents to properly containerise their garbage and not to carelessly dispose of it, in the interest of public safety and sanitation.
Richard Vernon, the mayor of Montego Bay and chairman of the StJMC, made the appeal on Wednesday following the municipal corporation’s latest Emergency Operations Centre meeting, where stakeholders provided updates into ongoing restorations efforts across the parish following Hurricane Melissa.
“Over the last two to three weeks, persons have resorted to unconventional ways of waste management, throwing waste over their walls, over their gates, and in places not designated for waste, and depending heavily on the Government to come and collect it. While we have done our part in clearing those areas, we cannot continue to operate in that way,” said Vernon.
“We want to revert to normal operation of waste management so we can enable the agencies and the players in waste management to manage the waste that persons are disposing of. I ask that persons properly containerise their waste and store it at the usual location, and the trucks from the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and the Western Parks and Markets (WPM) will collect your waste,” Vernon continued. “Melissa does not give anybody an excuse to conduct themselves in a disorderly way, so we are urging persons to adhere to the rules and respect the rules.”
The mayor noted that waste, which has been generated as a result of Hurricane Melissa’s effects, will be treated differently from regular household waste, particularly since the Retirement landfill in St James is now operating beyond its regular capacity.
“For the general waste caused by Melissa, such as trees and branches, we are looking at temporary areas to hold this waste, whether or not we have to bury it; and we have even discussed burning, but that will be done under the supervision of the public health services and the Jamaica Fire Brigade. Once we have identified those locations, the WPM and their regional operations managers will go ahead with setting up makeshift holding areas for some of the Melissa waste, and as for the regular domestic waste, that will be going to the landfill,” said Vernon.
“The usual traffic at the landfill is usually about 70 loads per day, but now the landfill is processing over 400 truckloads per day. The landfill is indeed overwhelmed, and there are long lines of traffic leading to the landfill area, and that is frustrating some of the operators,” Vernon added. “We have to do what we have to do to manage the space, and we are encouraging and urging our citizens to follow suit and do what is right to ensure that we bring our city and municipality back to a state of normalcy.”
When contacted, WPM’s senior public supervising officer Sharnon Williams said that the landfill is currently taking in approximately 360 to 400 truckloads of waste daily, and that the disposal site has additional equipment on hand to deal with the excess waste coming in.
Before Hurricane Melissa’s passage, St James had a poor history of waste management and disposal, with numerous reports over the years of illegal dump sites popping up across the parish as well as disposal of garbage into gullies and drains. The practice has resulted in several incidents of flooding during heavy rains, including in Montego Bay’s downtown district.
St James’ poor waste management has also repeatedly provided breeding grounds for rat infestation, which is especially worrying since the parish is one of several where cases of leptospirosis have been reported following Hurricane Melissa. Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection transmitted through contact with water contaminated by the urine of rats, cats, dogs, and cattle.
christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com
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