A dump site in Clark’s Town, Trelawny, has been transformed into an area of beauty and relaxation by WPM Waste Management Ltd.

The task was led by WPM workers as well as community members cleaned and placed ‘no dumping’ signs in the area on Wednesday, July 26.

Regional operations manager of WPM Waste Management Limited, Dramaine Jones, told JIS News that the area was affected over the years by illegal dumping, mainly by commercial entities in the community.

“This is an area which, on average, took our company truck an hour and a half, maybe two hours, to clean, because everything [waste] is loose. We [also] have animals, especially pigs, rummaging through the garbage, so [when] you are passing in the early morning, garbage is on the road, even though the place is cleaned two or three times per week,” Jones said.

He noted that representatives from the agency met with the Clark’s Town Community Development Committee (CDC) as well as other community groups prior to the activity, to discuss the issue and came up with a solution for the elimination of the dump site.

Jones outlined that in addition to getting rid of the dump site, the agency carried out waste management sensitisation activities which targeted residents and businesses in the community.

“We sensitised our commercial customers in terms of what to do with their waste, how to manage their waste and to establish a contract with an authorised commercial waste hauler,” he added.

As part of the beautification effort, old tyres were painted and placed in the area along with flowers donated by the Clark’s Town CDC.

Jones said that councillor for the Sherwood Division, Dunstan Harper, has also provided support in the form donating drums for residential waste disposal.

“We have [also] given drums, so he (Harper) will be identifying areas where we can place the drums for household [waste] collection. Also, for the commercial persons, as part of the sensitisation, we will be finding out what exactly their needs are, helping them to establish an area to hold their waste until collection can commence,” he said.

Jones pointed out that there are other dump sites in the region which the agency plans to address, including locations in Mt. Salem and Sunvalley in St. James, and Lucea and Smithfield in Hanover, among others.