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An Open Letter to the National Solid Waste Management Authority and the Ministry of Health and Wellness

The people of Hanover deserve better.

Garbage collection is not a privilege. It is a basic public service and a matter of public health, dignity, and respect. Yet, for far too long, Hanover has been treated as though it can wait while other communities move ahead.

Entire communities go for months without seeing a garbage truck. Residents are left with no choice but to pile refuse at collection points, hoping that someone, somewhere, will remember them. Too often, nothing happens until a call is made to someone in authority or public pressure is applied. That is not a system. It is crisis management, and the people of Hanover deserve far better.

Why can’t there be a reliable, published collection schedule that communities can depend on? Why should families have to wonder when, or if, their garbage will be collected? People cannot plan, businesses cannot operate efficiently, and communities cannot remain clean under these conditions.

The consequences are impossible to ignore.

Drive along the corridor to Negril, and you will see overflowing piles of garbage. Visit collection points, and you will find refuse spilling onto the roadside. Rats race alongside tour buses. The stench is overwhelming. This is not only an embarrassment for one of Jamaica’s premier tourism corridors. It is a serious public health hazard for the people who live, work, and raise their families there every day.

Communities such as Cousins Cove, Pell River, Askenish, and March Town, along with many surrounding districts, can all attest to the long waits between collections. Residents across the length and breadth of Hanover continue to raise the same concern: garbage is simply not being collected often enough. Many will tell you they hardly ever see a garbage truck. This is not an isolated problem affecting one or two communities. It is a challenge being experienced right across the parish.

This raises another important question. Where are the public health authorities? What monitoring is taking place? Overflowing garbage attracts rodents, flies, and mosquitoes, contaminates the environment, and increases the risk of disease. Public health cannot begin only after an outbreak occurs. Prevention must always be the priority.

The people of Hanover pay taxes. They contribute to the nation’s economy. They support Jamaica’s tourism industry. They deserve the same level of service afforded to every other parish. They should not have to beg for one of the most basic public services.

We are not asking for special treatment.

We are asking for consistency.

We are asking for accountability.

We are asking for respect.

The National Solid Waste Management Authority must implement and adhere to reliable collection schedules, publish those schedules so communities know what to expect, communicate clearly when disruptions occur, and ensure that no district is repeatedly left behind. Likewise, the Ministry of Health and Wellness must actively monitor the public health implications of prolonged garbage accumulation and intervene before a public health crisis develops.

Hanover deserves clean communities. Our residents deserve to live with dignity. Our visitors should not be greeted by mountains of refuse, and our children should not grow up believing that overflowing garbage is simply a part of everyday life.

The time for temporary fixes has long passed. The people of Hanover have been patient, but patience cannot replace public service. They deserve a waste management system that is reliable, predictable, and accountable. I therefore call on the relevant authorities to act with urgency and deliver the level of service that every resident of Hanover has every right to expect.

Heatha Miller Bennett, MP, Western Hanover