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The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) earned over $120 million last year and is making good on the promise made by executive director, Joan Gordon Webley, to ultimately end its dependence on subventions from the national budget.
This was explained by Mrs. Gordon Webley to a JIS Think Tank on Wednesday, November fourth.
"I can say to you that last year our commercial division earned well over $120 million, and this year we will earn more. And that is just the tip of the iceberg," Mrs. Gordon Webley predicted.
"As we speak, the Parks and Gardens Division is no longer under the subvention of Government," she said.
According to Mrs. Gordon Webley, the NSWMA earns money from the work it does for agencies like the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), as well as for private citizens who use the services of the Parks and Gardens Division.
She said contractors will no longer be used to supervise the work of the NSWMA, which will create additional savings and free up more funds to hire additional employees.
"We felt that there were too many layers of supervision. We had managers on board and monitors who managed the contractors. We don't want that to happen any longer," she said.
She stated that among the contributors to the NSWMA's costs were the provision of trucks to 99 per cent of the contractors, who only paid $25 on every litre of fuel used by their vehicles although they were paid per trip.
The Authority was also responsible for fixing the vehicles when they broke down, in addition to finding replacements for the areas which they serve, while they were out of commission. This state of affairs, she said, had been in place for many years, but could not be allowed to continue.
"Having taken the decision to abandon the use of contractors, we will now be able to operate within our budget," she said.
Mrs. Webley contends that the NSWMA could now be called the 'National Solid Waste Resource', since nothing in its landfills is considered as waste.
"One new activity that we have started on our landfills is composting. The first six truck loads went directly to the National Heroes Park, where we have started a nursery which houses approximately 30,000 plants," she related.
"There is a brand new outlook, as far as we are concerned. We are determined that we are going to turn around NSWMA. In fact, we have already started on that journey. We have said that no longer are we going to be an organisation of people who just deal with rubbish, and we have started a number of competitions. Then there is the way we carry ourselves, the cleanliness of our workers and our vehicles, the name change from garbage men to sanitation workers," Mrs. Gordon Webley explained.
The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) was established under the National Solid Waste Management Act 2001 as a statutory body, to manage the collection, treatment and disposal of solid waste, islandwide.
The Authority's duties include: establishing the standards and criteria for operators in the solid waste sector; licensing solid waste companies, collection vehicles and disposal site operators; contracting solid waste collectors for municipal garbage collection; establishing collection zones, in collaboration with the Parish Councils, the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and the Town Planning Authority; establishing tipping fees structures and rates for industrial and large commercial entities disposing of waste at the approved disposal sites; and operating solid waste disposal sites in the medium term, while preparing them for divestment to the private sector.
http://www.jis.gov.jm/officePM/html/...NG_ITS_WAY.asp
This was explained by Mrs. Gordon Webley to a JIS Think Tank on Wednesday, November fourth.
"I can say to you that last year our commercial division earned well over $120 million, and this year we will earn more. And that is just the tip of the iceberg," Mrs. Gordon Webley predicted.
"As we speak, the Parks and Gardens Division is no longer under the subvention of Government," she said.
According to Mrs. Gordon Webley, the NSWMA earns money from the work it does for agencies like the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), as well as for private citizens who use the services of the Parks and Gardens Division.
She said contractors will no longer be used to supervise the work of the NSWMA, which will create additional savings and free up more funds to hire additional employees.
"We felt that there were too many layers of supervision. We had managers on board and monitors who managed the contractors. We don't want that to happen any longer," she said.
She stated that among the contributors to the NSWMA's costs were the provision of trucks to 99 per cent of the contractors, who only paid $25 on every litre of fuel used by their vehicles although they were paid per trip.
The Authority was also responsible for fixing the vehicles when they broke down, in addition to finding replacements for the areas which they serve, while they were out of commission. This state of affairs, she said, had been in place for many years, but could not be allowed to continue.
"Having taken the decision to abandon the use of contractors, we will now be able to operate within our budget," she said.
Mrs. Webley contends that the NSWMA could now be called the 'National Solid Waste Resource', since nothing in its landfills is considered as waste.
"One new activity that we have started on our landfills is composting. The first six truck loads went directly to the National Heroes Park, where we have started a nursery which houses approximately 30,000 plants," she related.
"There is a brand new outlook, as far as we are concerned. We are determined that we are going to turn around NSWMA. In fact, we have already started on that journey. We have said that no longer are we going to be an organisation of people who just deal with rubbish, and we have started a number of competitions. Then there is the way we carry ourselves, the cleanliness of our workers and our vehicles, the name change from garbage men to sanitation workers," Mrs. Gordon Webley explained.
The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) was established under the National Solid Waste Management Act 2001 as a statutory body, to manage the collection, treatment and disposal of solid waste, islandwide.
The Authority's duties include: establishing the standards and criteria for operators in the solid waste sector; licensing solid waste companies, collection vehicles and disposal site operators; contracting solid waste collectors for municipal garbage collection; establishing collection zones, in collaboration with the Parish Councils, the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and the Town Planning Authority; establishing tipping fees structures and rates for industrial and large commercial entities disposing of waste at the approved disposal sites; and operating solid waste disposal sites in the medium term, while preparing them for divestment to the private sector.
http://www.jis.gov.jm/officePM/html/...NG_ITS_WAY.asp
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