THE RECENT DECISION by Government to sub-contract refuse collection to the private sector is being described by the opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) as privatisation of the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) through the backdoor.
In a scathing attack on Government’s decision yesterday, shadow minister of health, Dwight Sutherland, acknowledged that Barbados faced a crisis in its garbage collection, but noted that Government’s failure to prioritise its expenditure across the board three years ago when the problem started, had significantly compounded the situation.
Sutherland, MP for St George South, claimed that Minister of Environment and Drainage, Dr Denis Lowe, who has responsibility for the SSA, chose to commit $28 million to the building of a high-rise headquarters at Vaucluse, St. Thomas instead of buying trucks to collect garbage island-wide.
“The country needs at least 35 trucks per day to keep Barbados clean and the SSA is now fighting to get ten trucks per day on the road. . . (BA/PR)
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