“Intricate” and “often overlooked”. These were the two terms the recently appointed Chairman of the board of directors of the Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority, Mr. Trevor St. Bernard, used to refer to sanitation workers in Grenada’s waste management industry.
In his address to the GSWMA waste collection and street cleaning contractors in early June, he admitted that before holding the position of Chairman, his understanding of the industry and the scope of related challenges were limited. But he has a new-found regard for the sector and has come to the realization that waste management is truly everyone’s business, and everyone has a role to play.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Mr. St. Bernard thanked and commended the Authority and sanitation service providers for continued exemplary delivery of service.
“We extend our profound appreciation to the sanitation workers, contractors and service providers for your sterling contribution with regard to the services provided over the years,” he said to attendees at a meeting held at the Grenada National Stadium. Making mention of the sector’s efforts in the heat of the COVID-19 emergency period, he thanked the workers for braving the many challenges, particularly those related to exposure.
“It was only through the collaborative effort of the Authority, and you the contractors, together with our stakeholders…. allowed us to effectively manage the situation without a catastrophic end-result for Grenada,” he stated.
Chairman St. Bernard also took the opportunity to pledge the Authority’s unwavering commitment to helping to address matters related to steady growth in waste streams, plans to move swiftly towards waste diversion and enforcement to counter non-compliance issues such as illegal dumping, littering and improper commercial waste management.
He stated that the GSWMA remains mindful of the constantly changing environment and the emerging challenges associated with solid waste management, and has pledged to engage in capacity building and institutional strengthening to position the Authority to continue in its quest to better serve the state of Grenada and assist in driving Government’s transformational agenda.
“Together with the current administration, it [the Authority] is committed to doing research, development and implementation of strategies that will have significant positive, social, environmental and economic impacts for Grenada.”
He reminded the audience that the strategies proposed are expected to, among other things; reduce pollution and its associated health risks, improve the situation of informal workers, create jobs through emerging industries and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and contamination of the environment. The meeting gave contractors the opportunity to interact with the Chairman and management of the Authority on a number of waste management issues.