Since the Bahamian public is producing more waste than the Department of Environmental Health is capable of collecting, an offer from Bahamas Waste Ltd. for a pilot garbage collection scheme in several black belt communities is being viewed as somewhat of a godsend.
The company has committed itself to regular garbage collection services in the East Street and Farm Road area for the next three months.
It’s an experimental project, according to Bahamas Waste Chief Executive Officer Peter Andrews. But he admitted on Thursday that eventually, he wants to secure a contract from the government to perform the service permanently.
“For years we have been trying to work together to clean up our environment and we asked the government to find a place for Bahamas Waste to come and perform these services in an effort to assist the government; work with the government and work with the people,” he said.
The pilot kicked off on John Road and will extend between the parameters of Wulff Road and Shirley Street, targeting over a thousands homes.
The government has admitted before that the Department of Environmental Health is barely able to collect all of the waste that is being produced on the island.
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health Ron Pinder said the department is especially challenged in collecting bulk waste, like old furniture and large household appliances.
But at this stage, he said, the government has made no decision on whether or not it will eventually award a contract to the private waste collector. He added that consideration for a private bulk waste collection arrangement may be easier to consider.
He explained why the Farm Road area; the Prime Minister’s constituency, was singled out for the experimental project.
“We left it up to Bahamas Waste Management to choose the area and the government had its input,” he said. “When you look at the amount of waste generated really you are looking at inner cities that are plagued with a significant amount of litter. All of those reasons lend itself to conclude that this is an appropriate area.”
He commended the company’s capacity and technical expertise.
Before the company embarked on its daily collection routes in the inner city, it conducted a survey to help determine the scope of the task.
“We are going to be collecting from more than 1200 homes,” said Ethelyn Davis, Operations Manager. “We have got a total of about 3,300 bins that we are going to be collecting from. We have talked to the residents and they are pretty excited about what we are going to do.”
People who abuse the environment, discarding their waste on overgrown properties, has also become a nagging challenge for the Department of Environmental Health. It is now trying to crackdown on those environmental violations.
The Bahama Journal
