May 17th, 2016 -- General Manager of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) Alphonso Bridgewater has reiterated calls for security for workers of the corporation. This time the call is for particularly the drain sweepers who go out to work in the wee hours of the mornings in Basseterre. “Some instances they have to run for cover (and) come to the police station for cover or call us,” Mr. Bridgewater said.
Additionally, Mr. Bridgewater noted that the workers are sometimes threatened by other people who are on the streets in the early hours of the morning. Asked why he thinks his workers are threatened, Mr. Bridgewater suggested that some of the perpetrators may be involved in questionable activities. “It appears as if they didn’t necessarily want our workers on the road because of what they might see so sometimes they (drain sweepers) have to be running away from particular instances,” the SWMC General Manager said. “If they were there they possibly would see evidence or see something (illegal),” he added.
Earlier this year, SWMC Operations Supervisor Mr. Wilmon McCall called for the police to assist the corporation with security for its workers after an incident on a construction site. Mr. McCall and his colleagues visited this site to ticket the owner for waste disposal infractions, only to be threatened and chased of the premises. Mr. McCall said efforts to contact the police for assistance were futile. On that aspect of security, Mr. Bridgewater echoed the call for police officers to be available to accompany the workers whenever they are going on these special assignments. He explained that these situations are not part of the routine garbage collection jobs, but are usually special cases that have been reported to the SWMC by concerned residents.
“Somebody has an overgrown property and you are going to speak to them, you tell them who you are and this is why you are here and so they know a ticket is likely and so they get very hostile and aggressive after that. They may very well know what they are doing,” Mr. Bridgewater explained. He suggested that SWMC would get better cooperation if they were accompanied by a police officer.
Mr. Bridgewater believes in the instance of drain sweepers, a simple police presence in the early hours of Basseterre as they work goes a long way in protecting the workers.
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