Jamaicans are being encouraged to pay their property taxes to ensure effective and efficient delivery of solid-waste management services.

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), through funding from the Parochial Revenue Fund (property tax), provides the public cleansing services of sweeping and residential collection of solid waste.

“The question of property tax [has become] more and more important. That is why we are encouraging Jamaicans to pay their property taxes because the benefits go towards garbage collection and streetlights,” said Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Desmond McKenzie.

“It is the property tax that is used to pay the NSWMA. The solid waste budget is close to $10 billion, and we have not been able to provide that amount and we are not collecting $10 billion for property taxes,” he noted.

Minister McKenzie was responding to callers during the Nationwide News Network (NNN) radio segment ‘Ask the Minister’ on Tuesday (May 9).

Meanwhile, the Minister noted that 50 additional waste-disposal trucks will be acquired as part of measures to improve the NSWMA’s operations.

They will add to the 50 new trucks that were handed over in December.

“The process for the additional 50 trucks has commenced, so we will, by the downside of this year, have the additional 50 trucks, and there are other new facilities that we will introduce to improve solid-waste management and garbage collection and make the [country] much cleaner,” he said.

The Authority’s primary services include the collection and disposal of residential solid waste and providing sweeping services for major town centres and roadways. It also provides solid waste haulage services to businesses.

The NSWMA manages disposal sites in Portland, St. Ann, Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. James, St. Elizabeth, and Manchester.