BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THERE is a group of people, mainly females, in St. Kitts who go about their daily tasks in a quiet manner and with a high level of professionalism. But many of us view them in a very insignificant way and do not realise that these people are responsible for the message of cleanliness that visitors to the island take back to their homeland.
I am speaking about those employees of the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), who, every day, can be seen cleaning the streets and making the popular ‘Sugar City’ not only hospitable for its residents and visitors, but also the talking point of its cleanliness.
However, one of the most notable demanding periods for these workers is the Carnival season.
Every year, following each Carnival Street Activity, they can be seen undertaking their duties without complaints. And while most revellers and onlookers discard their waste in drains, on sidewalks, on the freshly-cut grasses in Independence Square and also on various open but unoccupied properties, the sanitation workers meticulously and assiduously return the environment to its state of normalcy in record-breaking time.
Now that the Carnival celebrations are over, evidence of the above mentioned can be seen in the splendor of the city of Basseterre.
This is not an easy task! And although one official from the SWMC stated that cleaning this year was easier than previous years, he however indicated that there were some challenges experienced during the exercise.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Operations Supervisor of SWMC Wilmon McCall stated that over the years, once there is a street activity waste would be generated and the Corporation is mandated to clean the entire island of St. Kitts.
He however declared that the timing for cleaning is the major cause of difficulties.
“…Because street jamming will go late and, even if there is no jamming, people are on the street and wastes will be generated. So we have to start cleaning and will go until late hours.”
J’Ouvert, he said, would have presented the most difficult challenge with regards to timing of the cleanup.
He also said that on New Year’s Day and Las’ Lap, the cleaning exercise would go late into the night even though the bands have stopped playing.
“Again on New Year’s Day and Last Lap, the cleaning exercise will go late into the night even though the bands have stopped playing late, and then we have to start working around 2:00 a.m.
“Another thing is that the street vendors generate a lot of business and, as a result of this, lots of garbage is generated. We spoke to them prior to the activity that they should be mindful to keep bags or bins close by so that the patrons could have something to throw the garbage in, and also to find some mechanism to hinder the bottle caps from falling on the ground.”
He added that for this year, because many of the vendors were compliant with the rules, the cleaners did not encounter much difficulty as in previous years.
“But the difficulty comes with the caps and bottles in the drain. We had to use a lot of garbage bags and we had to use a shovel and a brush and place them in bin.”
McCall added that bins are normally deployed around Basseterre to accommodate the sweepers and the vendors; the latter who would cleanup after completing their business.
“The important thing is the experience of our workers to know where to start. We had to wait until the crowd thins out, and so sometimes at 6 o’clock in the morning our girls are still working.
“The important thing is that once there is an event, the very next day we can start working and feel like we have a clean city and all the inconvenience is absorbed by Solid Waste Management.”
He also stated that the problems they faced with one of their garbage truck did not affect their cleanup effort, but rather their regular collection.
