Garbage collection across the island is being significantly impacted by a reduced number of working compactor trucks at the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA).
Minister of Environment Adrian Forde said on Tuesday that while the SSA was doing its best to address the issue, the global supply chain challenges had been impacting its progress.
At a press conference at his ministry’s headquarters in Warrens, St Michael, he offered apologies to the public and explained that it was taking a long time for a shipment of parts ordered to reach the island.
“There have been concerns raised in the public domain with the collection of garbage and I want to apologise on behalf of my ministry and the Government for any delays in collection that may have happened over the last couple of months or so.
“Barbados is not unlike the rest of the world as it relates to logistics and supply chain management and the supply of goods. Whether there are parts for vehicles or foodstuff, we have been affected like the rest of the world by the war in Ukraine. So we at SSA are facing . . . problems . . . as it relates to parts for vehicles. That has led to our fleet, which on any given day would require about 35 or 40 of the compactor trucks, being reduced to about 27 or 28.
“Today we have 30 on the road . . . . We are working assiduously with our suppliers overseas so that within the next couple of months or so, we would have our fleet back up to the numbers of around 35 to 40, which will help us meet our mandate,” said Forde.
The minister, who said that some vehicles in the current fleet are 20 years old, told reporters that seven new compactor trucks will be procured soon.
He said the Maria Holder Memorial Trust will bring in three trucks by February or March next year and the other four trucks will be ordered in the 2024 financial year.
While Forde said he could not give many details on the national recycling programme – a joint venture between the SSA and ProSource which saw the distribution of rolling carts and recycling bins to households across the island – Forde said that there were 6 500 more carts to be distributed by the end of the year.
(SZB)
