The 50 new garbage trucks that landed in Jamaica last weekend are expected to hit the road by December 1, with a significant reduction in complaints about pile-ups expected. 

That confirmation came Saturday from Audley Gordon, executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).

Complaints are expected to fall by 50 per cent, Gordon said in a Gleaner interview. 

The trucks were received by vehicle dealership Tank-Weld on Friday and are undergoing final checks which should be completed in about six more days, said Gordon.

The new shipment is expected to significantly boost the NSWMA’s capacity for collection amid an islandwide lament about pile-ups of garbage. 

NSWMA currently has a “ball-park” fleet of 100 trucks on the ground, approximately 45 of which are government-owned. 

But Gordon has sought to temper optimism, arguing that the injection of vehicles will not be a silver bullet for the country’s garbage woes.

“Fifty new trucks will not solve the problem but will help us tremendously. … We won’t be out of the woods,” he said.

Western Parks and Markets Management Limited, one of the NSWMA’s regional bodies, announced earlier this month that it is expecting to receive at least 10 of the new trucks.

But Gordon cautioned that the final decision on truck allocations will be made after a meeting Monday during which data will be analysed.

He said, however, that the trucks will be adequately spread across the various regions.

The executive director said a further 50 trucks are expected to be bought in the 2023-24 fiscal year that starts on April 1 next year.