Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the the government will be embarking on a strategy to transform municipal waste management in Jamaica, where disposal dumps, such as Riverton in St. Andrew and Retirement in St. James, will close, the mode of operation for the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) will change and a waste-to-energy plant in Jamaica will be constructed.

Speaking at an education fundraiser at the Half Moon Hotel, Montego Bay, this past Saturday (January 14), Holness said that what currently exists for waste disposal has become untenable and a permanent solution is needed.

The Prime Minister said that through a public and private-sector partnership, the Government will give the greenlight for the construction of a sanitary landfill in the centre of the island and give long-term concession for the collection of waste and the building of transfer stations.

Holness said: “We have done the environmental, economic and financial studies to come up with a strategy that is going to transform municipal waste management in Jamaica, to move it from the deplorable state that it is in to one in which we can all be proud. We will be creating this circular economy in waste, because [waste] will become a feedstock for electricity generation. So, very soon, waste will have value and where we will close the Retirement and Riverton City dumps. Once the business case is approved, then we go to the RFP process (request for proposal) where we go to market. We have done a sounding already of investors and that has been very successful. This is an area that is maturing and there are many investors who have turnkey operations who want to come and do the entire thing.”

“This society has a different set of values and standards, and of course, a better understanding of health and the environment and certainly much higher expectations than say 40 to 50 years ago,” he continued.