SWMC Bemoans Illegal Dumping In West Farm Ghaut

The problem of illegal dumping continues to be a problem on St. Kitts. Recently, the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) was alerted by a resident of West Farm to an illegal dumping site in the West Farm Ghaut.

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Carib Brewery Donates Hand Sanitizers to the SWMC

Carib Brewery recently donated 120 bottles of hand sanitizers to the St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation, as the workers remain on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19. Yannick Martin, Brand Manager at Carib Brewery, during a brief handing over of the sanitizers, said Carib Brewery recognizes the contribution of the SWMC workers, hence the reason for the donation.

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SWMC announces COVID-19 measures

The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) on Thursday announced changes to its operations as a result of Covid-19 preparatory measures currently being taken to protect staff and customers. Jamiella Christopher, Senior Manager in Charge of Communications at the SWMC listed the following measures:

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SWMC announces changes to Collection Program

The Solid Waste Management Corporation announces a number of changes to its collection program. Effective Monday December 23, D & D Services will collect household waste in Zones 11 & 12 (Old Road to New Guinea).

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SWMC Program seen as good recycling example in the Caribbean

A recycling initiative by the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) in some of the primary and high schools on the island, is being seen as one of the examples of jump starting recycling in the Caribbean. An official from the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) recently called for Caribbean countries to adopt examples of countries in the Pacific as it relates to recycling plastic and reducing its harmful effects to the environment.

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SWMC represented at Waste Management Workshop in Antigua

The St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation was represented at a recent workshop on sustainable management mechanism in persistent organic pollutants abbreviated as POPs. Mr. Keithley Phillips, General manager of the SWMC and Ms. Jamella Christopher, Human Resource Manager attended the Regional Inception Workshop in Antigua, which focused on the reduction of Unintentionally Produced Persistent Organic Pollutants (UPOPs) emissions by improving waste management practices at landfills.

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Ponds Pasture Garbage Collection Experience Improving

Residents in the Ponds Pasture area are cooperating with the St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) in affording sufficient room for the passage of the garbage trucks to collect household waste.

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SWMC endorses efforts of police and residents in cleaning abandoned lots

A group formed by some six police officers is working with residents of various communities to clean up abandoned lots on St. Kitts. Assistant Commissioner of Police Adolph Adams said the group was designed to mobilize residents in some of the communities on the island, to clean up unkempt lots in a bid to promote safer communities.

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Sixteen litter wardens appointed

Sixteen workers at the St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation recently received notification of their appointments as litter wardens. The letters were presented by Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr. Ivan Hanley during a general staff meeting at the Corporation’s headquarters in Taylors Range.

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SWMC seeking cooperation from residents

The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) visited residents of Newtown, Ponds Pasture and Ponds Extension last week to get their cooperation in assisting the garbage collection team visiting these areas.

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Big plans for SWMC staff in 2019

Implementation of the pension plan for the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) and introduction of new uniforms for field staff, are some of the exciting new plans from the Solid Waste Management Corporation for 2019.

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SWMC Reports Major Accomplishments in 2018

The St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) had some major financial accomplishments in 2018. In the corporation’s recap of the year on its weekly radio show Talking Trash on WINN FM 98.9, Assistant General Manager Candice Caines disclosed that in 2018, the SWMC was finally able to implement it’s financial policies and procedures.

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SWMC announces first winner in Bin Palooza

One lucky person won a free garbage bin rental from the Solid Waste Management Corporation this Christmas season, after successfully participating in the corporation’s Bin Palooza on social media.

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SWMC General Manager offer financial advice to ECCB Course graduates

Mr. Keithley Phillip, General Manager of the SWMC was featured speaker at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s Savings and Investment Course Cohort 16, held at the ECCB on Wednesday. Mr. Phillip, an experienced business manager, offered sound words of advice to the graduates on savings and retirement.

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SWMC Cleanup Campaign Ends on High Note

Despite heavy rains last weekend, the St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) National Cleanup Campaign mop up activities went ahead as planned this past weekend in communities spanning Needsmust to Tabernacle and onwards to St. Pauls.

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SWMC launches Door to Door Pilot Project

On Monday November 5th, the St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) is introducing the Door to Door Pilot Project collection model in several communities namely Bird Rock, Earl Morne and Camps and Mattingly at specified days each week.

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SWMC National Clean Up Campaign in Mop Up phase

The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) National Cleanup Campaign moved into its seventh week this past weekend with mop up activities. The mop activities this past weekend stopped in communities from Sandy Point to Camps and the week before focused on areas in Basseterre and surrounding environs.

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First SWMC National Clean Up Campaign a success

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.

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Sanitation Workers Appreciation Service slated for September 9

Sunday September 9 is the date for the 2018 edition of the Sanitation Workers Appreciation Service. The service, now in its 16th year, is organized by Pastor Lincoln Hazel and the Apostolic Faith Church on St. Johnson’s Avenue at 10am. This year, the service will be held at the church.

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SWMC endorses Plastic Free July Campaign

The Plastic Free July Project which was spearheaded by the Sustainable Destination Council in the month of July, to educate residents of St. Kitts and Nevis to engage in less use of plastic items is endorsed by the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC).

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SWMC garners info on relying in Nevis

The St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation is making efforts to learn as much about recycling in a bid to see what methods it can pursue to improve waste disposal on the island. The corporation’s Collections Officer Tyasha Henry recently visited the Nevis Solid Waste Management Corporation (NSWMC) that has some recycling activity, to see how they conduct their exercises and what programs they have been using.

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SWMC adopts St. Pauls Primary School in PET Bottle recycling program

The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) continues to roll out its PET Bottles Recycling Program with schools across St. Kitts. On Monday June 18, two representatives of the SWMC presented two garbage bins to the St. Pauls Primary School, to be used for the sole purpose of disposing plastic bottles.

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SWMC says goodbye to McCall and Bridgewater

The Solid Waste Management Corporation recently bade farewell to two of its most valuable employees in retiring General Manager Alphonso Bridgewater and Landfill Operations Supervisor Mr. Wilmon McCall.

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Transporting uncovered litter remains a problem

The transporting of litter in a manner that is likely to scatter continues to be the main litter infringement during the course of 2017, according to Mr. Randolph Browne, Enforcement and Security Supervisor at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC). This mainly involves transporting garbage in vehicles uncovered that causes the waste to scatter on the streets en route to the landfill.

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SWMC encouraging schools to recycle PET bottles

The St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), on the occasion of World Earth Day observed on April 22, made a presentation to the Basseterre High School recently. This is part of an initiative to promote the separation of waste where plastic bottles would be disposed of in a separate receptacle than regular garbage disposal bins.

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Heyliger commends garbage collectors for work during intense holiday period

Operations Supervisor in charge of collection at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Valentine Heyliger, has showered plaudits on his collection staff for the exceptional work they did during the holiday period. The Christmas/Carnival period is usually a very hectic and busy period for SWMC workers, especially those who collect garbage in the Basseterre area where most of the carnival festivities took place.

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SWMC assures safe disposal of ship waste

The Solid Waste Management Corporation has affirmed that efforts are being made to ensure that waste from the GNV Excellent, which is docked at Port Zante with about 1500 students from Ross University in Dominica, are handled properly.

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Sanitation workers honored at Government House

Sanitation workers in both St. Kitts and Nevis were treated to a well-deserved breakfast and luncheon and worshipped together for the first time on the lawns of Government House. They also received well wishes from dignitaries who were in attendance, most significantly the Governor General Sir Tapley Season, GCMC, CVO, QC, JP.

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Litter warden hoping to adopt school for waste disposal exercise

Litter warden with the Solid Waste Management Corporation Tyasha Henry, is hoping to adopt a class at one of the high schools in St. Kitts to teach them proper waste disposal practices. Henry has just returned from a six weeks training course in Japan, where she acquired certain skills and knowledge which she believes is pertinent to waste disposal practices in St. Kitts. She believes such knowledge is worth sharing with the some of the students she is hoping to mentor.

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SWMC pleased with positive turnout at job fair

With over 170 attendees attending the recent job fair of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), management is upbeat with the outcome of the event. General Manager of the SWMC Mr. Alphonso Bridgewater, said after the fair that he understood some persons who arrived later, left when they leant that the conference room where the fair was held was filled.

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Bridgewater calls for more efforts to waste diversion

There is a cost to waste diversion, which can be addressed greatly by implementing waste to energy. That is the view of General Manager of the Solid Waste Management Corporation Alphonso Bridgewater. Waste diversion or landfill diversion is the process of diverting waste from landfills.

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McCall: Don’t dump garbage in our waterways

Improperly discarding certain types of garbage in the nation’s waterways during the hurricane season is one of the more common mistakes people make at this time of the year, according to Operations Manager at SWMC Mr. Wilmon McCall. “They start to discard certain things that can hover around as missiles. And what do they do with them? Sometimes (they throw garbage) in the ghauts…I am always appealing the general public that putting things in the ghauts is the wrong thing,” McCall said.

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SWMC urges communities to take initiative to keep surroundings clean

Residents are urged to take initiative in keeping their communities clean and by extension help protect the environment. On a recent edition of Talking Trash, the official radio program of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) on WINN FM 98.9, Operations Manager Mr. Wilmon McCall publicly encouraged and lauded a resident of Newtown he identified as “Mr. James” who led a cleanup initiative in the community with support from the SWMC.

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Valentine Heyliger of the SWMC: Stop illegal dumping!

An appeal is once again being made to persons in the community who have been dumping garbage illegally in cane fields and other plots of land around the country, to desist from this act. That call comes from Operations Officer Valentine Heyliger after a recent visit to Needsmust where several illegal dumping sites were unearthed, highlighting the gravity of the problem.

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SWMC addresses Rotary Club on the state of waste disposal in St. Kitts

General Manager of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Alphonso Bridgewater addressed the Rotary Club of Liamuiga recently on the state of waste disposal in St. Kitts. He was joined by members of his management team namely Ms. Ghanja O’Flaherty, Operations Engineer and Mr. WIlmon McCall, Operations Manager.

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Government mulling solution to landfill issue

Minister of Health The Hon. Eugene Hamilton has disclosed that a solution to the current landfill situation, is being studied and that another location for the establishment of a new landfill may have to be explored. The Sanitary Landfill in Conaree has expired its natural life and the current landfill cell that is being utilized for dumping is nearing its capacity. Minister Hamilton said the relevant technical expertise and the Solid Waste Management Corporation are studying the matter to advise on what the next step should be.

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Over 90% conviction rate of SWMC ticket fines

The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) has managed to successfully achieve convictions on majority of the tickets issued for waste disposal offences brought to court in 2016. Of the 16 tickets issued by the SWMC, 11 achieved conviction, and all but one of their five remaining cases have also resulted into convictions since 2017 began.

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SWMC to increase awareness campaigns in schools

The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) is looking to increase its presence in the schools on St. Kitts in a bid to improve public awareness on the importance of proper garbage disposal and protecting the environment.

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SWMC staffers get new uniforms

The new uniforms for SWMC staff members is designed to exude pride in working at the Corporation, explains Sharon Drew, Administrative Assistant at the SWMC Headquarters in Taylors Range. Speaking to the “SWMC Insider”, Ms. Drew pointed to the importance of the new uniforms, which form part of the philosophy at the SWMC.

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SWMC suggests cooperation with court for greater compliance

The work of the court and the Solid Waste Management can help in achieving greater protection of the environment, according to Chairman of the board of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Mr. Randolph Edmeade. Mr. Edmeade acknowledged the view that some officials in the environmental health and waste management fields may have that the court appears indifferent towards environmental and waste management issues.

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Health screening held for SWMC workers

SWMC staffers were afforded a health screening on February 9th at the Corporation’s office thanks to assistance from medical students from the Windsor University. Planning and Operations Engineer Ghanja O’Flaherty told The SWMC Insider that all staff members; those out in the field and in the office took part in the exercise, including some close family members of the workers.

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2017 will be a busy year for SWMC

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.

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New year, new look: Litter wardens get new uniform

New year, new look for litter wardens at the SWMC. The first working week of 2017 saw the litter wardens decked out in their spanking new uniforms. It’s lime green, depicting the color of the environment and a plain white embroidery of the colors. To top things off, the litter wardens are required to wear their ids so they can be easily identifiable with the public.

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Icilma bids farewell to the SWMC

The ever so faithful Icilma Henry bode farewell to the SWMC family on the 11th of January 2017 to pursue other aspirations. Icilma has been a member of staff of the SWMC for just over five years and has endeared herself to her colleagues, especially those at the SWMC Headquarters. In a short farewell function on January 11th, staff members lauded Icilma’s contribution to the SWMC and especially her cooking. “I have fallen in love with you from day one,” said SWMC staffer Cassandra Gillon.

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Students encouraged to stop littering

Students from some of the island’s high and primary schools are being encouraged to display more care when disposing garbage and refuse to litter. Some vendors in the area of the Beach Allen Primary School and the Basseterre High School have spoken about students littering the roadway and pasture next to the schools. They say they have to clean the area where they sell every day when they arrive in the mornings because students throw garbage indiscriminately on the ground.

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SWMC has new accountant

Candice Caines, the SWMC’s new accountant has hit the ground running in her first month at work. Her first order of business was to begin the process of restructuring the corporation’s accounts department and from the looks of things, she seems ready for the task. “One of the responsibilities I was tasked with was restructuring the accounts department…for me what I needed to do as I got in was to assess each of their roles and see where they were underutilized or over-utilized and try to create a balance within the department,” she said.

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Call made to do away with plastic bags, Styrofoam

It’s time for St. Kitts to begin looking at doing away with plastic bags and Styrofoam, and encourage the use of more environmentally friendly alternatives. That’s according to Valentine Heyliger, Operations Officer at the Solid Waste Management Corporation. Mr. Heyliger recently returned from a six week training course in Japan, where he focused his attention on waste separation and characterization as a method that can be applied in St. Kitts and Nevis.

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SWMC keeping the elevator in check

Management at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) is doing it’s part to ensure that the elevator at the SWMC headquarters remains in tip top shape. Though installed last year, R.B.P. Lifts Limited, the company from Trinidad and Tobago that installed the elevator, has proposed a contract to management that will see to the monthly maintenance of the elevator. Carlton Robinson, Managing Director of RBP Lifts Ltd., visited the SWMC Headquarters recently along with his local representative Alexis Liburd to ensure that the elevator continued to function well and to meet with SWMC management officials on the proposal.

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SWMC wants advance notice about new housing developments

A waste management official is calling for the authorities to inform them in advance whenever new housing developments are being commissioned so that a proper solid waste disposal plan can be factored in for these new communities. That call is coming from Operation Supervisor Mr. Wilmon McCall. He said too often new housing developments are built and commissioned without the Solid Waste Management Corporation being informed.

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SWMC has disaster preparedness plan

Strategic plans are in place by the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) to prepare for a natural disaster both at the landfill and garbage collection level. Sydney Matthew, Project Officer and a member of the Disaster Preparedness Committee at the SWMC, said a Rapid Response Team is in place to be the first responders in the event of a natural disaster. At the landfill, Mr. Matthew assured that preparations are initiated immediately to prepare for a pending storm.

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Sanitation workers to be honoured this Sunday

Sanitation workers including employees of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) will this Sunday be honored for their sterling work in keeping the island clean. The 14th annual Sanitary Workers Appreciation Service, will be held at the Apostolic Faith Mission Church on St. Johnston Ave this Sunday at 10am. Pastor Lincoln Hazel stressed that this service is very important to sanitary workers, because it shows recognition for their work in the community.

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Dr. Khan: Time is now to plan ahead

SWMC workers got a chance to relive some of the key memories of one of the major accomplishments of the corporation during the special 20th anniversary edition of the Annual General Meeting at the SWMC headquarters in Taylors in July. Guest speaker was Dr. Ahmad Khan. He was one of the representatives of a consortium seeking to design and build the sanitary landfills in both Nevis and St. Kitts. He is also the Director of the Basel Convention Regional Center for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean Region.

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Pride and joy: Sharon Drew looks at past and future of SWMC

Sharon Drew has seen it all at the SWMC. She is a stalwart at the corporation having been there from the very start; even when the SWMC was just a project and not yet a corporation. The solid waste project was part of a wider project with the rest of the OECS and Sharon at the time was involved in the communication and administration which were vital to the project on a sub-regional and international level. “I was the person who was the hub of that communication because at that time it was just finance officer, myself and Mr. Bridgewater and the office attendant.

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Raising the flag: Valerie Whyte recounts a proud moment in the history of the SWMC

She was nervous at first and was a bit taken aback at being chosen for such a momentous and historic occasion. SWMC receptionist, Valerie Whyte was one of two employees chosen to raise the first ever SWMC flag at the entrance of the headquarters in Taylor’s Range in honor of the corporation’s 20th anniversary. This was a shock to Valerie, as she considers herself a newbie to the SWMC. She’s only with the corporation for two years thus far. “It was a shock; a surprise for me. I didn’t know that I would be in a position to actually raise a flag,” she tells The SWMC Insider.

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SWMC 20th Anniversary Report

SWMC: Changing a culture for two decades

It’s not often one gets to say that a government owned corporation have impacted a culture of a country. Not only has the SWMC changed the psyche and attitude of residents and citizens towards waste disposal, they transformed an entity from just a mere semblance of a department to a valuable national institutional. Before the legislation was passed that paved the way for the establishment of the SWMC, the Environmental Health Department was responsible for garbage collection on the island.

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SWMC Operations Officer to attend solid waste training in Japan

Waste characterization will be one of the main focuses for Operations Officer at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), Valentine Heyliger as he leaves to Japan on Thursday for a six week training course on sustainable solid waste management in the Caribbean. There are several topics relating to waste management that will be addressed including composting and recycling. But for Mr. Heyliger, while interested in gleaning knowledge on all these areas, he is particularly interested in waste characterization and recycling as he believes these areas are important for waste management in St. Kitts.

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McCall: Judiciary, police should be trained on environmental matters

The Solid Waste Management (SWMC) is calling for a chance to interact with members of law enforcement and the judiciary to sensitize them on the importance of upholding environmental laws in the country. According to SWMC Operations Supervisor Mr. Wilmon McCall, the judiciary and law enforcement officers in St. Kitts are not taking waste disposal and environmental infractions seriously. “The police force has a training program that they go through where each policeman is trained…what about environmental matters.

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SWMC celebrates 20 years at Thursday’s General Assembly

The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) celebrates 20 years this Thursday during a special Annual General Assembly at the SWMC conference room in Taylors Range. This month marks the 20th anniversary since the Act for the incorporation of the SWMC was passed. SWMC General Manager Alphonso Bridgewater acknowledged that this year, the 20th anniversary will be one of the focal points of the assembly scheduled for July 7th. “This year 2016 is particularly special because it marks the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the legislation to establish the Solid Waste Management Corporation,” Mr. Bridgewater said.

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Indiscriminate dumping on the rise says SWMC official

Operations Officer at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Mr. Valentine Heyliger has called for a more concerted effort in dealing tackling indiscriminate dumping. He has suggested that the security forces monitor sites where garbage is dumped illegally at certain times of the day such as late night or early morning. “The landfill is not open at that time, (if the vehicle has) garbage you know they are going to do something illegal.

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Heyliger: People need to change culture about waste disposal

With the pending arrival of CCTV in Basseterre and other environs, the Solid Management Corporation (SWMC) is hoping that it can garner hard evidence to prosecute persons who break litter and waste disposal laws in the country. SWMC Operations officer Mr. Valentine Heyliger has expressed optimism that this will provide an opportunity to discover who have been dumping garbage indiscriminately in and around Basseterre.

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Sterling Service: Litter wardens Camilla Matthew and Tyasha Henry tell their story

Camilla Matthew and Tyasha Henry are two of the finest and most hard working litter wardens you can find. Both have offered sterling service to the Solid Waste Management Corporation; Camilla Matthew has been working here for 15 years while her younger counterpart Tyasha has been with the corporation for 13 years. For Camilla, the experience of working at the SWMC has been a good one and nearing 62 years old, she knows her time for retirement draws nigh. “When I (joined SWMC) first, I never had no problem. I enjoy the time here.

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SWMC makes case for waste to energy

With the current sanitary engineered landfill cell way past its natural life and the need for St. Kitts and Nevis to pursue diversified options for alternative energy, the Solid Waste Management Corporation is making a case for government to pursue waste to energy. General Manager of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Alphonso Bridgewater, wants government to indicate what its position on waste to energy. “This is something I raised with Ministers Hamilton and Wendy Phipps as well.

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Edmeade: Welfare of workers is our priority

Chairman of the Board of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Mr. Randolph Edmeade has made it clear that the welfare of SWMC workers is priority for this new board. “One of the key things that the board pledged (to the workers)…that their welfare would be considered priority…we don’t want to take any worker of the corporation for granted,” Mr. Edmeade told The SWMC Insider.

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Pride in cleanliness: Lynn ‘Max’ Taylor takes his job seriously

Lynn ‘Max’ Taylor is serious about his work. For him, when he shows up to a place that is dirty with garbage, his pride and joy is to see it looking spic and span when he leaves. “I love mi job. When you go in an area, the place dirty, we leave it clean. Smell good,” Lynn tells The SWMC Insider, beaming with excitement. His team comprises three people; one who goes ahead of the truck and sorts out the garbage from the various homes. The other two act as loaders who place the garbage from the bins in the trucks.

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Heyliger: Poorly parked vehicles affecting garbage collection

Residents who park their vehicles poorly along narrow roadways during the times for garbage pick-up, run the risk of not having their garbage or that of their neighbors collected. That’s according to Operations Officer at the Solid Waste Management Mr. Valentine Heyliger. Mr. Heyliger noted that garbage truck drivers have been advised not to drive down roadways and areas where it is almost impassable to avoid causing any damage to people’s vehicles. “We’re putting the onus on the persons living there because if a stranger comes in there and parks badly on a schedule day, we

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SWMC official calls on residents to desist from abusing communal waste bins

The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) is appealing to residents not to dump waste in communal bins belonging to another community. Mr. Wilmon McCall, Operations Supervisor at the SWMC also made a call for persons to desist from dumping construction waste and other matters that are not suited for household waste in these bins. “The bins are for the residents for the area where we put them and that is as a result of, at times the topography of the place. Sometimes the trucks have to go up some steep inclines and it is very dangerous for our workers and the equipment and

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Judith Isles says why she enjoys life at SWMC: “I like people”

What does Judith Isles love most about working at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC)? She loves dealing with different personalities and people. “I like people and I like to deal with people with all their different personalities and issues,” she tells the SWMC Insider. “You have a wide cross section of people…street sweepers right up to the professional level and it doesn’t matter to me. You have to treat everybody equal,” she adds.

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Landfill supervisor believes St. Kitts can learn a lot from Japan

There is a lot St. Kitts and Nevis can learn from Japan regarding waste management, as one employee of the St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) recently discovered. Yvonne Brown is SWMC’s Landfill Site Operator/Supervisor (LSO) at the sanitary landfill in Conaree. She was one of several persons from the Caribbean to attend a training held at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Training Center and had an eye opening experience. “It was a wonderful experience for me actually to go (because) I felt like St. Kitts was (up) there when it comes to

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St. Kitts looking at waste to energy options

St. Kitts will have to look seriously at waste separation if it is to consider waste to energy as an energy and waste disposal alternative. That is a according to Ghanja O’Flaherty, Planning and Operations Engineer at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC). O’Flaherty recently attended a waste to energy conference in Grenada organized by the SIDS DOCK (a product of the Alliance of Small Island States to provide guidance to small islands states on energy matters); CARICOM via the CARICOM Energy Programme, GIZ (German Society for International Cooperation),

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SWMC calls for police security for their workers

Some may not envision the work of the Solid Waste Management (SWMC) as a dangerous profession especially as it relates to ensuring that business establishments and residents comply with the litter and waste disposal laws. But SWMC Operations Supervisor Mr. Wilmon McCall has made it known that there have been many instances where SWMC workers, including himself, have been at risk and where their lives have been threatened by individuals. Mr. McCall is calling on the police force to provide some level of security to them in some cases especially when they encounter individuals who threaten them whenever they attempt to ticket them for waste disposal infractions.

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SWMC outlines major plans for 2016

General Manager of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Alphonso Bridgewater has a number of ambitious goals for 2016, which include increasing productivity, conducting a human resource audit and increased enforcement of litter and waste disposal laws and regulations among others. Mr. Bridgewater has made it clear that the SWMC will continue its aggressive drive to see persons comply with the law as it relates derelict vehicles and overgrown properties. In fact, the Corporation has seen much success in the last year, as it has overseen, with the help of the police, the removal of 175 derelict vehicles.

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Solid Waste enlists services of an Environmental Engineer

Basseterre, St. Kitts (December 21, 2015) — Technical operations at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) St. Kitts have recently received a well-deserved shot in the arm. Joining the corporation’s senior staff since mid-October is Environmental Engineer Ms Għanja O’Flaherty.

According to the SWMC’s General Manager Mr Alphonso Bridgewater, the new staffer who is reporting directly to him will play a pivotal role in streamlining and reinvigorating technical operations in her role as a Planning and Operations Engineer, which is a new position.

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Solid Waste: Basseterre Valley Aquifer is sacred ground, do not dump here

Basseterre, St. Kitts (October 21, 2015) — The Basseterre Valley Aquifer has recently been in the news, courtesy of two concerned individuals.

Water Department’s Acting Manager Mr Denison Paul religiously told the media that the Basseterre Valley Aquifer which feeds water to Basseterre, Bird Rock, Frigate Bay, South East Peninsula and Half Moon Bay was at a critical point as a result of the prevailing drought conditions.

The Aquifer, which also supplies the rest of the island with 40 per cent of its water demands, was getting depleted as the precious commodity continued to be pumped out, but there was little or no rainfall to replenish it.

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SWMC staffer Yvonne Brown off to Japan for JICA-sponsored six-week training

Basseterre, St. Kitts (October 5, 2015) — The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) St. Kitts continues to benefit from a partnership between the government of St. Kitts and Nevis through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

SWMC’s Landfill Site Supervisor and Weighbridge Attendant, Ms Yvonne Brown, leaves the Federation later this week for a six-week training programme ‘Sustainable Solid Waste Management in CARICOM Countries’ which will be held in Okinawa, Japan.

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Government considering health and pension benefits for Solid Waste workers

Basseterre, St. Kitts (September 28, 2015) — Federal Minister with responsibility for Solid Waste Management Corporation – SWMC (St. Kitts) the Hon Eugene Hamilton said Thursday (September 24) that the Government is considering introducing health and pension benefits for Solid Waste workers.

“I know from the ministerial standpoint that we have some work to do, because you work in this institution and a lot of you do not know even yet what benefits are to be derived when you get to the point of retiring,” pointed out Minister Hamilton.

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Solid Waste workers urged to look out for each other as there is strength in unity

Basseterre, St. Kitts (September 28, 2015) — In executing its core philosophical principles and themes which is in its second leg, having commenced the journey last year, workers of the Solid Waste Management Corporation were called upon to ‘Think Summons’, to ‘Think Solidarity’, and to Think Special’.

The call was made by the corporation’s General Manager Mr Alphonso Bridgewater during this year’s annual General Assembly which was held on Thursday September 24 at the conference centre of the corporation’s new headquarters at Taylor’s.

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Message from SWMC General Manager regarding 2015 Appreciation Service and Luncheon for SWMC and Sanitation workers of St. Kitts and Nevis

“There is no substitute for good sanitation”, the theme for this year’s 13th Anniversary reminds us. The employees of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), together with their counterparts in Environmental/Public Health, Parks and Beaches and Sanitation, in general– through their steadfast, significant and symbolic stewardship– commit themselves on a daily and hourly basis to ensure that we avert experiencing what the ‘substitutes’ to “good sanitation” may be like. Hence, today, it is their performance, their productivity, their reliability, their resilience, that we celebrate, we appreciate and for which we offer thanks to Jehovah.

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Apostolic Faith Church to observe 13th Appreciation Service for sanitation workers

Basseterre, St. Kitts (September 2, 2015) — Renowned man of the cloth, Pastor Lincoln Hazell of the Apostolic Faith Church, is a firm believer that church is not just about looking after the soul but it also looks after the whole body, stating that preaching alone is not enough.

“The community will be more understanding if you would meet the needs of the community,” said Pastor Hazell.

A man of his word, in September 2003 Pastor Hazell and his St. Johnson Avenue-based congregation held what they thought was a one-off service to honour sanitation workers, specifically those from the St. Kitts Solid Waste Management Corporation, which went off very well.

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Keep St. Kitts clean: Bring out garbage only on the day and time of scheduled pick up

Basseterre, St. Kitts (August 14, 2015) — A society’s affluence has a direct linkage to an increased generation of waste. A country like St. Kitts and Nevis, which is heavily dependent on tourism, has to ensure that the generated waste is collected routinely as failure to do it would deter the number of visitors wanting to make return visits.

There is no debate about it anymore — St. Kitts and Nevis is rapidly becoming an affluent country, and so is the increase of the amount of garbage that is produced on a daily basis. How that waste is managed makes a determination as to whether the person who visited our shores last year will want to return this year.

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Solid Waste advises against use of metal drums as garbage disposal bins

Basseterre, St. Kitts (August 5, 2015) — The Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) St. Kitts is renewing its appeal to household owners to desist from using metal drums as garbage disposal bins, as they pose a safety threat to the organisation’s workers.

Operations Supervisor Mr Wilmon McCall is advising that while the use of discarded oil drums was the norm when the corporation started its operations, a notice to discontinue their use was issued in March 2005 when all concerned were advised to use plastic barrels instead.

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Woman loader at Solid Waste: Samantha fits the bill – is equal to any of the guys

Basseterre, St. Kitts (July 28, 2015) — On a hot Wednesday afternoon two weeks ago, a group of persons leaving the ferry terminus in Basseterre after disembarking from a passenger boat coming out of Nevis slowed down their steps as they looked in awe as a young woman busied herself away.

Amid the din of loud music and high pitched voices as people talked loudly to hear each other, a woman from among the arriving passengers was heard to tell a man companion: “It looks like this young woman works for Solid Waste.”

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Hon Eugene Hamilton pays tribute to Solid Waste Management Corporation

Basseterre, St. Kitts (July 3, 2015) — Federal Minister with responsibility for Solid Waste Management Corporation – SWMC (St. Kitts) the Hon Eugene Hamilton has praised its management’s prudence in terms of acquiring, through self-financing, real estate that now has an estimated value of $5 million.

“The ability to move from landless existence, with annual rental expenses in excess of $60,000 per annum, to one which is a fixed asset of a corporation that is now broadened significantly by the investment of over $4 million, that is indeed a commendable fact and feat,” said Hon Hamilton.

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New SWMC (St. Kitts) headquarter building officially opens Thursday July 2nd

Basseterre, St. Kitts — Operations of the Solid Waste Management Corporation SWMC (St. Kitts) have, since Monday June 29, moved from the former central Basseterre location to the organisation’s new building in Taylor’s Range.

A simple but significant blessing ceremony of the new building was conducted by Rev Canon Valentine Hodge, which marked a symbolic achievement for the hard working staff of this public organisation that operated out of a rented location at the corner of Central Street and New Street in Basseterre for over 15 years.

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Solid Waste Management Corporation relocating to its own state-of-the-art building

Basseterre, St. Kitts — After serving the public from a rented and outgrown location in Basseterre’s Central District for a decade and a half, the Solid Waste Management Corporation SWMC (St. Kitts) is preparing to move into its own spacious state-of-the-art building in Taylor’s Range.

The relocation, which is envisaged to be in a matter of days, will mark the abrupt termination of hassles the staff and clients of the Solid Waste Management Corporation would have endured while operating out of the rented property, which did not offer ample parking for the staff let alone clients coming to do business with the corporation.

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Youth with American accent who has confounded all by working as a garbage loader

Basseterre, St. Kitts — Mr Wilmon McCall, Operations Supervisor at Solid Waste Management Corporation SWMC (St. Kitts), had gone to visit a sick worker at Prickly Pear Alley way back in 2009, when a young man who spoke English with a heavy American accent asked him for a job as a garbage loader.

“Looking at his youthfulness, I thought he was not serious so I said to him to come to my office the next day at 9 o’clock,” recalls Mr McCall. “And behold the very next day he was in my office at 8:30 in the morning, waiting.

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Solid Waste announces new garbage collection rates for rental businesses

Basseterre, St. Kitts — The Solid Waste Management Corporation SWMC (St. Kitts) is to introduce new garbage collection rates on a graduated tier system for rental businesses with three and more apartments.

Collection of garbage from households is free, but once a unit has three apartments and above, it is considered a business and Solid Waste has been charging a standard monthly garbage collection fee of $100 plus VAT. This is now going to change as from July 1.

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Redefining the role of Solid Waste Management Corporation

Basseterre, St. Kitts — The Solid Waste Management Corporation SWMC (St. Kitts) is stepping up the delivery its services to the residents of St. Kitts, and to achieve this it has formulated an eleven-point strategy which when implemented will not only see a cleaner island but a rejuvenated workforce.

At Solid Waste Management Corporation (St. Kitts), they are no longer guided by the idiom ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’. They are a notch higher as they are guided by the idiom ‘cleanliness is godliness’, a maxim that has been fully endorsed by the organisation’s General Manager Mr Alphonso Bridgewater.

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Senator Phipps joined Solid Waste staff as they bade farewell to an exemplary worker

Basseterre, St. Kitts — Staff at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (St. Kitts), are used to meetings held on the last Thursday of each month. However, one that stood out to be extraordinary was on the last Thursday of April, which also happened to be the last day of the month.

Instead of meeting at the landfill in Conaree where they discuss problems that face their operations and planning ahead, the April 30 meeting was held in downtown Basseterre at the Stone Walls Restaurant and in their midst was the Minister of State with responsibility for Health, Community Development, Gender Affairs and Social Services, the Hon Senator Wendy Phipps.

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Solid Waste Management Corporation troupe: New Year Parade of Troupes winner?

Basseterre, St. Kitts – He calls them street sweepers, but their admirers called them the unregistered troupe of the New Year’s Parade of Troupes. It was the troupe that brought up the rear during the parade, and with it, a magnanimous dose of healthy living.

While all the troupes assembled at Patsy Allers Play Field in readiness for the ‘trouping’ of their colours and agility of their bodies, the unregistered troupe assembled at the Dr William Connor Primary School.

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