PENN: Govt’s $800K home garbage collection initiative is ‘reckless spending and grossly flawed’
Pointing the government’s $800,000 home-to-home garbage collection programme, Opposition Leader Marlon Penn has accused the Andrew Fahie administration of “recklessly spending money”.
In his latest statement from a series of press releases sent in that last few days, Penn said the garbage collection initiative is “grossly flawed” considering that it is being operated in conjunction with the regular communal bin collection.
He further argued that the sum used for house-to-house garbage collection could have been diverted to other areas such as the parliamentary Opposition’s proposed income support, and work-for-pay programmes.
“At a time when the territory has not seen any revenue for the past three months, the funds currently being spent should have been directed to a stimulus plan to bring relief to the people of the territory,” Penn stated.
Garbage collection not an economic stimulus
This is not the first time a member of the Opposition has criticised the Fahie administration about its house-to-house garbage collection programme, which government said is part of its economic stimulus response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Just last week, senior legislator Julian Fraser argued that the initiative does not meet the criteria to be considered an ‘economic stimulus’.
“[This] has no relevance as far as stimulus is concerned. I talked about the garbage collection, substituting house-to-house collection for bin collection. That’s a trade-off, that’s not a new initiative,” Fraser said at the time.
“This particular item is not new money, this is monies that was being spent to pick up garbage anyway. I am saying that government has not addressed the issue of stimulus for the country, its people and the economy. That has not been addressed, not by what I am looking at here,” the senior legislator further argued.
The first phase of govt’s COVID-19 economic stimulus response
In a seven-point bulletin released recently, government said its economic stimulus plan so far included initiatives such as a $12 million-purchase for medical supplies, $2 million funding for farmers and fisherfolk, the purchasing of food and medication for seniors and needy residents, and the aforementioned $800,000 investment in house-to-house garbage collection.
Premier Fahie said the second phase of his government’s stimulus-response will be outlined in detail on Thursday, May 28.
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Mr. Penn is incorrect. The house to house garbage collection is not ‘recklessly spending money’. Every guy with a dump truck and 3 sheets of plywood is out collecting garbage in Sea Cows Bay everyday. They are also separating the garbage into glass, plastics, metal and other at the re-cycling bins. The only flaw in the new garbage system is that the big houses/apartments that make lots of garbage are getting more service then the little houses with no or minimal garbage.
Those trucks you see collecting recycled stuff is not government..Penn right… people out everyday and they passing at least 1 garbage been on their commute….throw away tour own garbage. He wasting ppl money yes
I have to agree with Hon. Penn, it is reckless if your conducting both programs at the same time. Why collect house to house if persons are allowed to take their trash to the big bins? Who will leave their home at 6am to take out trash if they could just take it out when they are leaving? You either do one or the other.
We have the same collection process happening with the collection at the green bins at the same cost and tack on 800k on to that, this is crazy. We paying triple to do the same task doesn’t make economic sense in a time where you need every dollar.
Put the guys with the dumb trucks to do other work, like clearing the ghuts and cleaning up the territory. Not reckless double spending. This administration is obviously clueless and don’t have a grip on reality.By the time they do it would be too late for many.
It is reckless and unnecessary. The sum of 800.000 is way too much
.. well that was a dumb comment. I can attest that they came to my location once
The problem may be that some can claim victory and others cannot. I have never seen them in my area. Perhaps it is because I do not live very close to the main road!
Yes waste of time we are not on curfew the bins are there who stops anyone from taking there garbage to the dump.y? Another thing they only picked up on the main road they never ever came to our apartment during lock down. I on the porch watching them passing to and frow playing busy with half empty truck,these are the guys from east waste cut them off plz.i go to the bin along with everybody else.
Majority was breaking the law any how so it did not matter,it needs to stop throw your garbage to the bin curfew done. They did not pick up the garbage during curfew i tired put mines a door had to take it back up throw it myself dont need them now.
When your right your right. Money should be going to people and businesses. The F** loading up his pockets, his relatives and his cronies. How’s that lease going in Aunties building. Government building will be finished soon but Auntie gots 4 mo years of lease from the nephew. Ahhhh life is good.
TALK DE TINGS HON. PENN!!!! We have been free to roam for WEEKS now. Why is it still going on? Throw away your own garbage!!! It’s a waste of already limited government resources.
Garbage collection has never been a priority for the NDP.
Just $!ck of ahyou now! Ahyou ain’t see no one is studying ahyou with this NDP this NDP that? The Government is like a broken record because they don’t have a clue as to what to do, in a disaster situation. People surfing out of a job, can’t feed their family our businesses failing and all you could say is NDP this and NDP that. Clueless and sickening.
Stop telling lies, you seem to forget Dr.Piko & Archie named themselves misters of garbage collection up to the point where they were cleaning up all the old cars and beaches around the country?
Some of those plans for recycling were put in place by the NDP. Did Green VI & Green & Clean Vi just started? No, the leg work was in place, But the VIP is doing a great job building on the platform and pushing forward.
Hon. Penn loves to see his name in media, feeling his own relevance. Where was he when these things were being discussed? What big ideas does he have to offer? Or is he just throwing rocks at the House, hoping to break a window and gain attention? I feel the latter is the case.
Be more constructive. We have enough critics without a clue.
Stop chatting p!$$! Did you even read the article? The man is doing his job and plus Hon. Penn suggested why he feels it’s a waste of money and how the money should be redirected to support struggling families who have been out of a job. Instead of triple paying to perform the same task.
You people are so blinded by political loyalty that defend anything Government do, even if it is blatantly wrong. I swear this country is going to hell in hand bag but the second.
i dont see the sense of this since the lock down is was lifted, i saw garbabe trucks emptying garbage everyday the money they paying these dudes can help a family out who is really struggling waste of money right here the home to home garbage collection is bull crop . this need to be fixed .
$800.000 sounds a bit better than a million so may just stay below the radar.
A million for the wall around the school (labour and material) was too much but just under a million to collect garbage (labour only) is acceptable
I am sure smuf read the Auditor General report on the plane talk about reckless spending
2 wrongs dont make it right
We cut so much style here on our nabour like we are better than them financially but yeat they hand out there stimulus already an we here scarmbling.
I agree with Hon. Penn. I did see the need for house-to-house collection during total lockdown, but after it was partially lifted there is no longer a need for trucks to collect house-to-house.
Now more than ever, government should be counting every cent!
Penn is right. we paying for Garbage to be collected twice. Certainly reckless spending.
THERE WERE CONTRACTS GIVEN TO COLLECT GARBAGE BEFORE. PERSON SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO TAKE THEIR TRASH TO THE DUMPSTER AND RETURN HOME OR THEY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN AN HOUR PER-DAY ON LOCK-DOWN TO TAKE OUT TRASH.
They don’t go to every house. The pick out who they want. They picked from our area initially. afterwards I notice they pick up just below our area then turn around. We were wondering if its a political thing or what.
I totally agree for this is absolutely unnecessary spending. During the lockdown I could have see this as being a priority. But now that the curfew hours have been relaxed people should throw away their own garbage seeing that they have from 6am to 7pm to do so. That money for home garbage collection can be put to better use towards something else.
did anyone stop to think that the contract that was signed called for the entire sum to be paid over the life of the contract, whether the garbage truck came out or not?
The greatest deception occur and appear truthful to mankind when the actual facts are hidden from mind.
Politics, its institutional, societal and social engineering realities and practices have never been a clean, transparent, above the table normal endeavor.
Since the establishment of so called democratic principles and values by some within the human race, by individuals who never practiced the same values they endorsed and vehemently pay verbiage to, before, then, after or today, but nonetheless have been successful in convincing the world, that the dominant hypocrisy of the time is the better choice of the time.
And so today, mankind finds himself existing in a whirlpool established hypocrisy, where thievery is applauded once not committed by the poor. Hypocrisy is approved if one is finacially approved by a small percentage of the population and, one is not scrutinezed if one subscribes to, practices and overtly and publicly demonstartes the christian dogma of the controlled mind. Even if everyone in the churche’s pew is known by everyone to be an oppressor, liar, a scammer, a hater, a wrong doer to others, a thief, adulterer, sinner and sanctified hoo.
However, the intellect that has and continues to study, compare and contrast the political evolution of democracy and its evolutionary partner, capitalism, socialism, and communism, their pros and cons, consistencies, failures and successes, their effect on world poverty, hunger elimination, the evolution out of human suffering and misery, have not changed since the death of bartering, and fair trading and the birth of democracy and capitalism.
The world and the 98% of its population is no better off or secure today than it was before the so called modernity tools of the betterment of mankind came into being.
Fact is, they were never contrived to better the fate of the greater mankind, but to continue the enrichment of the privilege few. That psychology, its models and practices are what still drive society to present. Educate the mind people.
Locked up in quarantine, though one was not ill, suggest the vulnerability of man under the guise of political expediency and personal control of power.
To the point, the sinful personal scourge of wealth hoarding is our present reality. That is where we see mega churches and pastors worth mega millions, while their congregation has suvuved on slave, not living wages for decades, bu not piece of legislation or personal agitiation pastor or other to affect the financial misery of the congregation, only magic mental portions of hope in the here after are ever given..
They will not build mega schools in economics, wealth generation, technology and infrastructue development. Insead, they continue to prey on centuries old mmental indoctrinations and subsequent retardations to fleece the gulllible poor and misinformed of their pennies.
That is where we see and elect individuals whose only motivation is self enrichment with the acquisition of easy millions. That is why the elements that are needed to transform the country’s economic elements will never be approached, pursued or implemented, because it takes four years of learning and practicing the tools of deception and financial diversion. No country since then is or has been immune to such.
Sadly, the scourges inherent within those false economic and political ideals, democracy and capitalism mainly, have suffered the world into a human and spiritual non-evolutionary dead end existence. The weakness of course is the human susceptibility to inferior thinking and living and the uncontrolled propensity of greed..
The elimination of hunger, suffering and the unequal distribution of resources, enhancement of upward mobility for 99% of the world’s population, that democracy and capitalism has demonstrated , in terms of ideology, practice and gained positive uplifting out of poverty, misery and death of the masses poor is but a farce masquerading as an antidote to the elimination of poverty and life long suffering. Yet with a GDP of a trillion dollars, the ruling and business class do not see a sinful and human disconnect between a minimum wage of six dollars and a living wage. They do not see the disconect between exorbitant prices. exorbitant profits, low wages and sufferings across generations of minds, the continuoing correlative scourge between their human practices, poverty, crime and societa decline.
One day over yonder, a new generation, after many centuries deep thought and analysis, will conclude that, many eons ago, greed, selfishness, the mating of those two elements birthed the notion of capitalist democracy, but it birthed a severely deformed democratic baby.
Doubt this will be posted, as many informed truths and teaching moments seldom seldom are. Hope someone else gets to read it though, perhaps even a young and budding brilliant future leader.
Marlon go look for the plane money your government give away and stop running your mouth
It wasn’t reckless spending for one main reason. There was a 24/7 curfew. We couldn’t leave our yards to throw away the garbage so how does Marlon expect us to get rid of garbage during a 24/7 curfew? How did he and his wife store their garbage during the curfew? The only way possible besides breaking the law to throw away garbage was to use the garbage disposal service. The garbage guys were annoying beeping early in the morning and waiting for all tenants to tell them to go but it was functional. Reckless spending would be BVIAirways where we got little in return.
It is always best to read carefully and understand before you respond. Now go read the article and you will realize that Hon Penn agreed with trash collection during lockdown but is simply asking why the govt is still continuing the program at a heavy cost when it is no longer needed.
Where is this house to house garbage collection? I haven’t seen any such thing after the 24/7 curfew ended. My understanding is that is what was done and is currently no longer happening. Where are they collecting garbage from when people are dumping their own garbage and the bins are full everyday. The regular garbage trucks do not dispose of beds, stoves, fridges and other large items that are dumped frequently even though there are signs saying to do otherwise and left alongside the roadside for days so if that is what they are collecting then I have no problem with that but there is no way I can be convinced that it is regular house to house garbage collection that is happening so Marlon might want to clarify that because it can be misleading to let people think that government is double paying for the same job.
I have yet to see the pick up of garbage in our hood since the curfew ended. I put the trash out as instructed the first week with no pickup. Visually monitored the following two weeks and still no pickup. So if the system is not going to be implemented properly, it is a waste of money. But, if the government can get their sh1t together, then it’s worth it simply to eliminate trash dumpsters along the roadways. Definitely will help keep the island cleaner.
You do know that we’ve been out 24hr curfew going on 3 weeks now do you!? Why would you still have garbage pile up in your house? There’s no need for house to house since the 24hr has been lifted. That is what Hon. Penn said, this doesn’t make any economical sense.
You people are really silly with this redundant talk about BVI Airways and NDP. So persons should turn a blind eye to silly spending. This country could never be any better with this political nonsense.
The investment into having direct flights from US to BVI was and still is a good idea, the only thing wrong is that it never happened. The VIP will be bringing this plan back with a local airline.
It seems like this Penn man is trying to find any fault with the government and then to use it as political mileage. He is part of the government! find a bloody solution from complaining all the time. Every time I read the paper and he is mentioned, it is something negative. Come on now!
Did you read the article and not see the solutions and alternatives he suggested. You people need to stop distracting and deflecting with your cult behavior. Stop letting Andrew lead us down a ditch.
Yes it’s a lot of money but they was not trying to hide the fax that they spend the money …. NDP on the other hand well we would ever know this information.. think about it
What the hell!? What is your point really? You people must stop this crap of defending nonsense because someone else might have done it.
I’m confused because are Penn’s brother and all his friends the ones collecting garbage East and benefited from this? Now he wanna act innocent?
I have yet to see the pick up of garbage in our hood since the curfew ended. I put the trash out as instructed the first week with no pickup. Visually monitored the following two weeks and still no pickup. So if the system is not going to be implemented properly, it is a waste of money. But, if the government can get their sh1t together, then it’s worth it simply to eliminate trash dumpsters along the roadways. Definitely will help keep the island cleaner.
So they spend $800K and up to now nobody ain got paid yet for the same garbage pick ups so where this money is?????