Regular garbage collection disrupted

The regular collection of household garbage has been interrupted in some areas, as a result of last week’s trough system, which caused severe flooding and landslides around the country.{{more}}

This is according to manager of the Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) Winsbert Quow, who on Monday told SEARCHLIGHT that the flooding and landslides have affected collection of garbage on the Leeward side of the island, from Spring Village to Richmond and from Rabacca to Fancy on the Windward end.

“In Spring Village, the road has been severely damaged and they have made a temporary bypass, but there are some restrictions on the weight of equipment that can travel on that road,” Quow said.

Quow explained that because of the weight of the vehicles and the landslides, the SWMU’s regular garbage compactor trucks are not able to travel on those roads, both on the Leeward and Windward sides of St Vincent.

“What we are asking people to do, if you live beyond Spring Village and over the dry river on the Windward side, you can do a separation of your garbage at home,” he said.

According to Quow, items such as food peelings can be disposed of in their backyards and meat waste can be cooked for animal consumption.

Quow said with clean-up efforts still ongoing, they are not sure when the roads will be cleared, so that normal scheduled pick-ups can resume.

“As we speak, there is still a lot of work to be done, not only with clearing the road, but also restoring the structural integrity of the road. Some roads you can drive on with certain vehicles, but they are really restricting the trucks and it is really a risk taking certain sized vehicles into these areas…,” he explained.

Quow is asking homeowners to be creative now with their garbage disposal and urged persons to store plastic bottles for collection at a later date.

Once the green light is given, he said, they might send some lighter trucks to relieve some areas.

“We are still doing assessments on a daily basis to see how far we can extend our regular service. But for now, some of those landslides are still being cleared,” he said.(KW)