Verify proper garbage disposal

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Residents contracting trucks to remove garbage and bulk waste from their properties are urged not to pay for the service until they have proof that the garbage has been properly disposed of at the landfill.
Martha Watkins-Gilkes, who is part of the ongoing effort to rid the country of bulk waste dumped on the sides of roads, said items that identify individuals by name have been found on illegally dumped garbage.
Watkins-Gilkes said that those who can prove they paid to have their bulk waste and garbage trucked to the Cook’s landfill can avoid the penalties and fines imposed for littering.
“We’ve found names of very prominent people on boxes at illegal dump
sites, and what we are advising is that whoever you are having truck away the garbage, do not pay for the service until they come back to you with a receipt from the landfill that they have actually taken the garbage there,” she said.
Watkins-Gilkes added that some haulers do not want to drive to the landfill and resort to dumping the garbage illegally.
She asserted that drivers tend to dump the waste illegally when they are paid upfront for the disposal, and the garbage with names can be tracked back the owner, and penalties can be enforced on the individual if they cannot prove they paid to dispose of the trash.
“In my area, we are all the way out at Half Moon Bay and we are as far away as you can get from the Cook’s landfill and so you really have to say to whoever you are paying to take your garbage away that you cannot dump this illegally,” she said.
The responsibility will fall on the truck driver if the individual who contracted the truck to haul away their garbage can prove they paid for proper disposal.
The National Solid Waste Management Authority and Antigua Barbuda Department of Environment are hosting a National Clean Up Campaign from May 26 through May 31, and June 9 and 10.
Watkins-Gilkes added that her neighbourhood will be paying more attention to the dilapidated vendor’s tables and stalls around the beach. Additionally, the rotting sargassum seaweed
that is washing ashore in large mounds will be removed.

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