National Solid Waste Management Authority

Business View Caribbean 7 agement responsibility for the parishes of Hanover, Westmoreland, Trelawny, and St. James.” Pryce also talks about some of the new initiatives the agency has taken in order to help control any future fires, especially at the Riverton facility, the largest mu- nicipal dump on the island. “We saw a critical need to establish a fire suppressant system at the largest disposal site that we have,” he says. “This suppres- sant system is comprehensive and it involves install- ing onsite water storage facilities. We have a 120,000 gallon capacity tank there, which takes its source of water from a nearby river. And that is available on the disposal site, itself. Water from the tank is pumped to hydrants, strategically placed, that will be able to ser- vice each cell of the disposal site. So, once there is a breakout of a fire on the site, the workers there are trained by our local fire department to be able to be first responders to that fire. So, we have that in place. We also have vent pipes that release the gases that come about from the interaction of different compo- nents of the garbage, which aids in preventing sponta- neous combustion.” Pryce adds that refuse is now better divided into sepa- rate cells that are now part of a rotation system; each one is covered when not in active use, “We open dif- ferent cells at different times,” he says. And some new landfill equipment was also recently purchased. But the new Interim Director laments the lack of funding that the NSWMA sorely needs in order to truly trans- form itself into a 21st century institution. “You never get all the money that you want,” he says ruefully.