Increased garbage, careless acts hampering SSA efforts

As the festive season winds down, garbage collection across the island has been marked by mounting strain and disruption.

According to the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA), their collection efforts have been complicated by increased volumes of waste, continued improper disposal by businesses and residents, and delays within the transfer system at the Mangrove landfill.

Public Relations Officer at the SSA, Carl Alff Padmore, said those challenges had slowed collections, forced trucks off the road and left some communities only partially serviced after hazardous and unsuitable materials were placed in household bins.

He also revealed that there had been a noticeable increase in waste accumulation, particularly in key commercial and high-traffic areas, which he linked directly to seasonal activity and visitor inflows. 

“There was a noticeable increase in waste in and around Bridgetown and the other town areas, especially the shopping areas Warrens and Speightstown.”

“Oistins would have had an increase because of the influx of tourists also. That being a food centre, you would have a natural increase in waste there,” Padmore said in an interview with Barbados TODAY. 

He said emerging commercial zones were also contributing to the pressure, noting, “Even the Six Roads corridor, because Six Roads is really developing into a small type of town.”

Padmore said the situation was being worsened by persistent non-compliance among some business operators in Bridgetown, despite repeated warnings. 

“Our concern is especially in the close-knit business community of Bridgetown. A lot of the store owners still are not complying. We’re still seeing the cooking oil and different things placed outside in bins. We’re still seeing the boxes that are not being collapsed properly. This poses a lot of issues,” he said.

Improper disposal has also had direct consequences for workers and service delivery, with Padmore disclosing that an incident in Vauxhall Gardens, Christ Church, forced the authority to suspend collection in part of the area.

“We had an incident only today where a resident actually had engine oil placed in the household bins. So when the guys did the compaction, it went on their clothes. It dirtied up the van, also dirtied up the area of the road, so we had to pull that vehicle off because you had the workers’ clothes being soiled by that act. As a result, only half of the community was serviced,” Padmore said.

While the family involved accepted responsibility, Padmore stressed that such incidents should never occur. 

“It’s a real unfortunate situation because we have said to persons not to place engine oil, cooking oil, or any of these things in the bins,” he said, warning that such materials could be flammable and pose serious risks to workers. 

He noted that the problem was longstanding, recalling previous incidents involving paint containers. 

Padmore said the SSA was also contending with heavy operational strain during the holiday period, with close to 50 trucks deployed islandwide. 

He contended that household waste volumes had surged significantly over the Christmas season. 

“A household that would normally have, let’s say, three or four bags… because of Christmas activity, those three or four bags can turn into 15 bags.”

Compounding the challenge are delays within the transfer system at the Solid Waste Management Centre at Mangrove, where congestion is slowing turnaround times. 

Padmore said a process that normally took 15 to 30 minutes was now taking longer because of a backlog of garbage, affecting trucks returning to service other communities.

He also highlighted ongoing issues with illegal dumping and unsecured loads on private trucks, citing a recent incident along St Stephen’s Hill and Cave Hill. 

“A truck clearly was going to the landfill and a mattress and some other stuff fell off, and it was left for the SSA to move. But clearly it came off of a private vehicle making its way to the landfill,” he said, adding that the debris became “a hindrance to the free flow of traffic.”

Padmore urged Barbadians to use authorised disposal sites correctly, pointing out that Mangrove was designated for household and garden waste, Bagatelle for metals and white goods, and Lonesome Hill in St Peter for blood and grease from slaughterhouses. 

He warned that illegal dumping in gullies and other areas was damaging infrastructure and increasing flood risk. 

“If garbage goes into the drains, the gutters, it will block them. What will happen then? The water will look for an outlet. The water will then end up coming onto the road. It will lead to flooding,” he said, also noting the increased risk of mosquito breeding.

Padmore also appealed for behavioural change as 2026 looms. 

“For the New Year, we’re really hoping that persons would get into better disposal methods, practising recycling more,” he said, adding that reducing and restoring items, rather than dumping them, could ease pressure on the landfill.”

He warned, however, that without a shift in attitudes, the environmental consequences would continue to escalate.

“If we are kind to nature and allow the water flows through the gullies and go into the sea, then nature will be kind to us. But just sometimes we do some small silly acts,” he said.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb