2017 will be a busy year for the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), according the corporation’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Randolph Edmeade. In an interview with The SWMC Insider, Mr. Edmeade stressed that the initiatives that were not fulfilled in 2016, would be pursued for completion in 2017. In 2016 the corporation would have started on a drive to strengthen the whole administrative structure of the SWMC. Coupled with that, the corporation would have also taken on board initiatives to strengthen its financial functions and to increase and improve its revenue intake,” Mr. Edmeade said. One of the initiatives of 2016 was embarking on a staff audit which is designed on improving staff welfare and strengthening administrative structure and development.

One of the main recommendations of the staff audit is creating a clear organizational structure, which Mr. Edmeade noted at the time of this interview, would be presented to the Board of Directors in its meeting just days later. There was also a recommendation to add a key staff position and revamp other positions.

Mr. Edmeade reiterated the Board’s priority of the improvement of staff welfare and made mention of the plans to introduce a pension plan for SWMC workers. He was keen to point out however, that the plan is before the relevant government minister and is not yet finalized. “The idea was introduced in 2016 as part of the administrative strengthening and development and I can say for 2017 there is a proposal that the Board of Directors will be looking at with the hope of implementing it in 2017,” Mr. Edmeade said.

In the meantime, he did however point to initiatives by the Corporation to highlight long- serving members of staff, and increase the level of socialization among staff members. One such initiative, he listed was the General Assembly, which last year was special because of the 20th anniversary of the incorporation of the SWMC.

It is also the intention of the corporation to increase revenue generation. “That is a new initiative that we’ll be going forward with in terms of what the corporation can do in terms of increasing its revenue generation or to collect more of what it should be collecting,” Edmeade said.