Jamaica Observer- Wednesday, March 30, 2022
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is getting high commendations for improvements in corporate governance, which has enhanced efficiency in operations and bolstered the agency’s work in ensuring a clean environment.
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Desmond McKenzie, said there has been notable advancement in the management of resources and personnel at the public cleansing agency.
“The efficiency has improved significantly, and the management is at the highest ever since its inception. This was done deliberately because the Government recognised the importance of having a clean country,” McKenzie said at a meeting with the NSWMA Executive Director, Audley Gordon, at the Ministry’s Hagley Park Road offices in St Andrew, recently.
He said that the administration is committed to having clean communities, as this not only contributes to growth and development, but “does wonders for the people”.
For the improved efficiency in operations, the NSWMA copped the Corporate Governance Policies, Procedures and Practices Award and was the first runner-up for Most Improved Public Body, at the fourth staging of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Public Bodies Corporate Governance Awards in March 2021.
Gordon said the focus on good governance ensures that the agency can perform its day-to-day functions more efficiently and effectively.
“We inherited 10 years of unaudited financials and annual reports, and for the last three years, we have produced our audited financials on time, and produced our annual reports,” he noted.
He added that the agency is doing regular training of all staff, including the sanitation workers, with a focus on quality service delivery and showing respect to all customers.
“We are rebranding and repositioning the NSWMA through significant training of our staff complement, and building capacity, so that we have people in place who can deliver the quality solid management that the country deserves,” Gordon said.
He noted that emphasis is also being placed on accountability and strict adherence to the rules of the agency.
The NSWMA is an agency of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development with a mission to ensure a clean Jamaica by managing solid waste effectively through public cleansing and adherence to public health and environment programmes.