Ministry: Residential Waste Cleared by 15th
The Ministry of Public Works addressed the reports over the past two days that residential waste has not been collected in a number of areas, saying “Over the Christmas and New Year period, the weekly quantity of residential waste traditionally increases. As a result of the short work weeks over this period and the concerted effort of the Government to reduce overtime, there was the undesirable build-up of residential waste in certain areas.”
“The short work week following the New Year’s Day weekend resulted in schedule changes; the West End refuse normally scheduled for collection on Monday was collected on Tuesday and East End refuse scheduled for collection on Tuesday was collected on Wednesday. Refuse was lighter than usual on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, on Thursday and Friday the refuse was significantly higher than normal. The Refuse Collection group worked overtime on Tuesday but not for the remainder of the week which is usual in a holiday week.”
“Part of the Ministry’s effort to reduce overtime resulted in the decision by management not to approve standby time for the mechanics and tyre man who traditionally service breakdowns of the refuse trucks by working overtime. It was management’s intent, barring emergency situations, that these vehicles could be serviced during the normal work day. When the Refuse Collection Section became aware of the lack of standby mechanics, management was advised that the Refuse Collections Section had refused to work overtime.”
On Monday, Derrick Burgess, Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Works, and Permanent Secretary Robert Horton met with BIU President Chris Furbert and senior Union officials.
Earlier today [Jan 12], the Permanent Secretary and other senior Ministry officials joined the BIU President and other senior BIU officials in a meeting with Refuse Collections staff to discuss the impacts of the recession on the services provided by the Ministry and, specifically, the need to reduce overtime and increase productivity. A broader meeting is being held Thursday morning to discuss these issues with the entire industrial work force. The Permanent Secretary characterized the meeting as “extremely cordial and constructive, with BIU members demonstrating a clear understanding of the situation”.
The Ministry says a number of refuse trucks are out of operation and waiting for service at the Ministry of Public Works Quarry. There are currently nine refuse trucks in operation. The normal requirement is twelve trucks with spare trucks to replace trucks being serviced. Currently, there are only nine refuse trucks in operation with five awaiting service at the quarry. The Ministry say they are “conducting a thorough examination of the manner in which the refuse are services, with the expectation that there will be greater efficiency in this area.”
The Ministry advises that the Refuse Collections team and standby mechanics and tyre man are working overtime this week and anticipates that the back-log of residential waste will be cleared by Saturday 15th January.
Waste can be taken directly to the Tynes Bay Public Drop-off Facility on Palmetto Road. The Drop-off Facility opening hours will be extended to 9:00 p.m. from tomorrow in order to assist the public.
Michael Weeks, Acting Minister of Public Works, said this evening: “The Ministry sincerely regrets the inconvenience experienced by the public affected by this situation and is actively striving to resolve the immediate issue of refuse collection and the longer term issue of maintaining residential waste service level and spending on overtime. governAll of us in the community are affected by the current situation and I am confident that very soon garbage collection will be restored to normalcy.”
Yesterday Pat Gordon-Pamplin, Shadow Minister for Works & Engineering, said “The Government needs to straighten out its trash collection problems immediately. Malfunctioning trucks – the official reason for the trash pile-ups – would be understandable, but four trucks out of commission at the same time suggest there needs to be a close look at management controls. This is not an isolated incident.”
“There have been enough instances over the past year that raises the question of whether this Government is paying attention to the nuts and bolts of its infrastructure operations. There have been maintenance breakdowns with the fast ferries and the Tynes Bay Incinerator, which has resulted in mountains of garbage being dumped at Morgan’s Point, creating what some say is a major rat problem. Now we have garbage trucks breaking down.”
“Somebody, somewhere is dropping the ball. It is up to ministers of the Government to pay attention to what’s going on in their departments. There is enough evidence to indicate that is not happening. The failure to keep things operating properly is absolutely basic, and yet here is another area where Bermuda is performing less well than it once did. We urge Government to step back and ‘repair’ its operations. We have to stop the rot.”
Wow thats a lot to read, but I didn’t.
Start with the Sessions House.
You are right. What a load of WAFFLE!
See if Bloomberg has afew hour spare next time he is in town to sort this bunch of time wasters out.
What a load of GARBAGE!
Let’s try to put the gobbedlygook into English. I think what this means is:
“We have no money, we’ve spent it all on parties and travel and cars, so we haven’t been able to pay the mechanic who normally fixes the garbage trucks. So, until we find a way to get more money, or borrow some more, you always have the option of taking your own garbage to Tynes Bay. In the meantime, we are going to pass ground breaking legislation making it illegal to put parking tickets on GP cars”.
…I’m just joking about the last sentence, of course.
It is VERY alarming when you start to see a breakdown on the BASIC infrastructures within government. I never thought I would see this day in Bermuda, but it is here and preparations must start to be made.
Stop paying taxes if the jobs are not getting done! We supply them with their paychecks!!!
Go PLP, PLP all the way. Who could have know that the finances would be in such a sorry state who? This is the fault of the world recession planned by the rich (we all know who they are) against a black government. There got all the responses covered. Oh get over it the PLP will be in power for a long time as the Evil UBP will never be elected and the BDA are just the stealth UBP. Now that all the bases are covered I would just like to add the independence would solve all these problems as we could just make are own money and forget the Queen. (This comment was completely sarcastic but I thought I would answer for all the PLP pr Trolls maybe I will find a way to get paid doing so gotta eat you know)…………….
LOL
Ps I will be handing out Kool Aid at noon…….
LOL
And maybe a trucker can bring a load of sand so that they can rebury their heads after they have had a good drink.