MAY PEN, Clarendon – Regional operations manager for the Southern Parks and Markets (SPM) Waste Management Edward Muir says the prevalence of crime in this south-central town is affecting the removal of solid waste.

On Tuesday, Muir told the Jamaica Observer that workers are fearful to clear garbage in the May Pen town centre nightly.

“Because of the high number of crimes, we had to move away from the night collection and focus on early morning,” he said.

Muir said the change was implemented three because of the environment.

“It is not safe for our crew to clean May Pen town centre during the night,” he said.

SPM, a subsidiary of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), is responsible for clearing solid waste in Manchester, Clarendon and St Elizabeth.

Further, Muir said the violence in the May Pen town centre and its environs affects the agency’s turnaround time.

“It slows down the operation in May Pen and surrounding areas because if we were able to do night collection, we could have done so during the night and then do residential during the day,” he said.

The security risk has resulted in a delay of garbage being collected.

“We start cleaning May Pen from as early as 5 o’ clock,” said Muir.

He said the agency sought assistance from the May Pen police.

“We had a meeting with the police in May Pen. However, they have their own challenge in terms of resources… to clean the market, the bus park and the town centre. We are looking at no less than 10 to 14 hours and you know that would be a long time to ask for assistance from them every night,” he said.

The SPM does not have a disposal site in Clarendon resulting in all the solid waste collected in that parish being transported to the Martin’s Hill dump in Manchester.