Dwayne Mcleod, Staff Reporter

While some persons were busy lending a helping hand in the clean-up process last weekend, several workmen were busy extorting money.

September 29 and 30 had been designated as islandwide work days for the removal of debris left following the passage of Hurricane Dean in August.

THE STAR was present on Sunday at one such activity in a community in eastern Kingston and witnessed workmen collecting money on two occasions, claiming the funds to be payment for seeing to a faster clean-up process.

"A drive wi a drive through an a go a one nex location, eno, jus gi wi a ting mek wi sort da strip ya fi eno quick quick," one of the workmen was heard telling residents.

Some residents stoutly refused as they were willing to lend a helping hand in the activity, but a handful of others were willing to comply with the workmen's demands claiming that they could wait no longer to see their community back to its regular state.

"Mi tired fi si di bag a rubbish an all sort a sinting a mi wall side, mi jus want it move now mi wi gi a smalls," said one resident.

A sum of $2,000 was handed over to the workmen who replied: "nuh watch nuh face, wi naw lef ya so til di place spic n span."

The workmen finished the activity as promised, but then continued to ask for yet another donation towards purchasing drinks.

One truck driver was heard saying, "see it deh. wi nuh tell unno seh wi mash di works quick fi eno. wi thirsty ya now though, si if uno can mek up a likkle ting fi wi buy two juice, nuh, please."

The same set of residents who had given money previously came together again, donating $800 to the men's 'liquor cause.'

Checks by THE STAR revealed that workmen also schemed to get funds from other residents in the corporate area, including sections of Central Kingston.

Some residents claimed that they had to fork out money to ensure that their streets were properly taken care of as the workmen threatened that they might not return after visiting the dump to empty the debris-loaded trucks.

"Wi did haffi gi dem money fi mek sure seh dem come back afta dem go empty di truck. Dem tell wi seh dem boss woulda mek dem go clean up somewhere else if our place did a tek too long fi done," one resident explained.

MOTIVATION MONEY

According to the resident, she was among a set of residents who pooled $1,800 in order to motivate the workmen to complete the task they had begun.

Christopher Powell, acting executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority, said he had not received any reports about money being charged, but noted that in such a situation, there was very little that his institution could do about the matter.

"We are not aware of that, but we could investigate. Those persons were private operators who volunteered and so are not under my purview. There's really nothing we could do about it," he explained.

He mentioned also that most of the collection outside the Corporate Area was complete and that a new time had been set to complete the collection of debris in the city. " We expect worst case to complete this by the Friday before Heroes Day," he said.

The two-day activity was described as a success by the director who noted that the authority was surprised yet grateful for the response shown by the private truck-and-equipment owners who volunteered for the clean-up.

He is also encouraging residents to call in to the toll-free line 1-888-CLEANJA to report points where debris has been placed for pick-up.

Over the two-days of clean-up, the NSWMA had lead responsibility for the removal of debris.

Owners and operators of trucks, backhoes, shredders and other necessary equipment volunteered their time and equipment to the national effort. Petroleum companies also contributed fuel for trucks that were used in clean-up activities.