The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

ENVIRONMENT Minister Kenred Dorsett yesterday blamed the slow pace of trash collection throughout New Providence on a small fleet of garbage trucks.

Mr Dorsett told parliamentarians that the Christie administration had inherited the problem from the previous government upon taking office.

He was responding to Opposition Leader Dr Hubert Minnis who took the government to task on the frequency of late garbage collection. Dr Minnis said his constituents had complained that apart from trash spilling over into the streets, that there were large volumes of maggots around waste bins in the community.

“I think the public,” Mr Dorsett said, “is very much aware of the challenges that we have as a result of a depleted fleet of trucks at the Department of Environmental Health Services upon taking office. To the extent that we have had to use private collectors as a result to manage until we can get into the budget and can make provisions to remedy the situation.”

Mr Dorsett encouraged residents to use a newly set up help desk to make officials aware of areas that have uncollected garbage.

On Tuesday, complaints flowed into The Tribune that garbage collection on the island was lagging.

Garbage collection has been a major concern at the eastern end of the island for some time, and residents told The Tribune trash is now overflowing into the streets.

In the west, garbage had reportedly not been collected for about a week.