SSA to rollout carts, bins in new home collection system in the North

The Sanitation Service Authority is to start distributing its new rolling carts and recycling bins Wednesday as its Residential Waste Collection Improvement Project gets underway.

SSA spokesman Carl Padmore said the process will start in St. Lucy as they plan to cover the north of the island first. It is to begin in Broomefield with a press launch. From St. Lucy, the SSA will then travel to St. Andrew and St. Peter and “continue on until we cover the entire island”, he said.

The new scheme , a partnership with waste management firm Prosource Ltd is designed to use state-of-the-art technology to modernise residential waste collection, said the SSA.

The new collection system consists of smart collection vehicles and roll-out carts, using technology to track and monitor collection and transfer real-time data.

Prosource said that with the data and tracking the SSA will be able to plan routes to recover missed households, fix safety concerns and track progress.

Padmore said the new bins will make life easier for the SSA lorry loaders and promised it will not jeopardise their jobs.

“It will not cause any disruption to our workforce, because there are two hydraulic systems behind the truck to accommodate these bins, so we will still need two lorry loaders,” he said. “The carts will also make life easier for them since they won’t have to be lifting those heavy cans anymore. While householders will get the recycling bin at this time, over the next six to eight months we will familiarise them with that bin’s use and collection.”

The SSA public relations officer urged Barbadians to look after the bins properly. “As Barbados makes the change to a republic we are doing things that will symbolise a new direction as to who we are as a people, and this is a gift to the people of Barbados,” he declared. “Yes, the bins are free, but you have to take care of them, that is, make sure you clean them regularly and put them in a convenient place so that our trucks can remove them easily.” (DH)