The first Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) National Clean Up Campaign this past weekend has been deemed a success. The first project involved Sandy Point and communities in Central Basseterre. Bins were laid on Durant Avenue, Cunningham Street, Upper Market Street and McKnight where white goods and bulky waste not normally picked up by the SWMC trucks were disposed of in bins laid out by the Corporation and D&D Waste Services. In Sandy Point, bins were collected when filled and replaced multiple times in order to accommodate the large volume of garbage that was being disposed. On Downing Street for example, residents said the bins were emptied and replaced three times and yet by Sunday evening, the bin was filled with more garbage. In stadium view Sandy Point when the garbage bin was being picked up, a resident told SWMC reps that the initiative was a good one. “Wonderful job in the community because the need was there but you all fulfilled it the right time and we say God bless you,” the resident said.

Meanwhile, Operations Manager at the SWMC Mr. Keithley Phillip during Tuesday’s broadcast of the radio program Talking Trash on WINN FM 98.9, said the cleanup campaign this past weekend was a success. “The feedback from the general public was great and we continue to encourage our residents to work with us at the Solid Waste Management Corporation,” he said. “We placed a number of bins in the various communities and we invite the members of those various communities to take their waste and deposit it in these bins,” Mr. Phillip explained.

He however cautioned residents not to dump garbage next to the bins, but instead inside the bins as was the case in one of the pick-up areas in Sandy Point. “We have been moving bins from Sandy Point and Basseterre and the logistics of moving the bins, plus the fact that the Island Main Road is under construction made it extremely difficult to move these bins as we would have preferred. What resulted is that persons, when they came to some of the bins and they realized that the bins were full they placed their items on the ground…If we are making the bins available, the least you can do is to work with us. When you place you items on the ground, who do you expect to take them up?” Mr. Phillip commented. The campaign continues this weekend in communities spanning Ottley’s to Harris’.