NEW OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR GARBAGE COLLECTION BY SWMC MORE PRACTICAL FOR CONSUMERS

Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 21, 2019 (SKNIS): The Solid Waste Management Corporation’s (SWMC) introduction of a new optimization model for garbage collection is expected to be more practical for consumers in St. Kitts.

Appearing on “Working for You” on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, SWMC officials Ivor Keithley Phillip, General Manager, and Jamella Christopher, Senior Manager for Human Resource and Communications, discussed the nationwide door to door garbage collection model, the additional days and pick up times for all zones and the contractors assigned to each of the zones, among other pertinent issues.

“Solid Waste embarked on this journey actually one year ago with the inception of our cleanup programmes which ran for about eight weeks. So, we went around from community to community collecting… and that is what triggered our need to change up what we already had. Not that it wasn’t working, but we just felt that it was not as efficient as we would want our collection services,” said Ms. Christopher. “It was a general consensus that waste was not being collected as frequently as the household members would have liked.”

Under this model is the introduction of inspectors whose job is to ensure that waste is collected. These persons are assigned to work with St. Kitts-Nevis Disposals (SKANDIS), D&D Services and Admiral’s Enterprises Ltd – haulers contracted by SWMC – to assist with garbage collection.

“With our new process in place, we have employed what we call inspectors and each of the haulers must have inspectors. That is critical to their coming onboard with us. The role of the inspectors is to visit various rounds, communities, zones… to ensure that the waste is collected and to determine by speaking to households what difficulty they may or may not encounter,’ said Mr. Phillip.

Speaking about the inspectors, Ms. Christopher noted that “because we are in our embryonic stage it allows us to investigate the problems and to have a hands-on approach and basically to go house to house to inspect” and [find ways] to improve on the services of SWMC.

Mr. Phillip noted that garbage collection is important because the “non-collection and non-management of garbage would lead to health issues.” The collection of garbage is also important for the beautification of the country.

“We recognize that on the face of the whole discussion that the need to manage our waste plays a critical part, so that as part of our development thrust we at Solid Waste Management Corporation are doing our best in terms of the human development of our people through the management of waste, in an effort to make us more attractive to our visitors, more competitive and certainly cleaner,” he said. “And so, the opportunity to share with you what we deem phase one of this whole process is certainly one that we do not take very lightly.”