House to house garbage collection to start in some communities next month

The Department of Waste Management has announced that it will embark on a pilot project to introduce house-to-house garbage collection in selected communities, starting on August 19.

Waste Management Officer in the Department Marquese Maduro said the goal of the project is to minimise the amount of waste that goes into community dumpsters.

“This will ultimately allow us to reduce the quantity and size of some of our community bins along the road sides. The project is also designed to discourage persons from transporting garbage on top of their vehicles and ultimately reduce our littering problem,” he told the Department of Information.

During the pilot project, only select areas will be serviced. These include Hawks Nest, Lambert Estate, Balsum Ghut and Beef Island.

Bins for discounted prices

The Department of Waste Management also stated that it has partnered with Rite Way Limited and Drake’s Traders to offer discounts on bins to the residents of the selected areas during this initiative.

“Residents of Hawks Nest, Lambert Estate, Balsum Ghut and Beef Island are therefore reminded that collection will be done on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and will start at 6:30a.m. Residents of those communities are being asked to place their garbage out for collection by 6:30 a.m,” the Department added.

To prevent rodents, stray animals and other pests from accessing the trash, the Department has encouraged residents to place their waste out for collection on the morning of collection; not the night before.

Possible programme expansion

If the house-to-house pilot project is successful, the authorities intend to have it implemented in other areas of the territory.

“It is anticipated that once successful, the system will allow the department to eventually offer collection of recyclable waste at a residential level,” the Department said.

It however noted that the task of implementing house-to-house garbage collection is likely to be complex due to the BVI landscape.

“While the Department hopes to extend the programme to as many communities as possible, the Waste Management Officer noted that because of the landscape and infrastructure of Tortola, it is quite challenging to introduce house-to-house garbage collection to all communities.”

The Department also stated that, as part of the educational outreach for the initiative, technical officers spent the last few weeks visiting each resident in the selected communities to speak with them about the pilot project.