The 10 new Sanitation Service Authority garbage trucks that arrived on island over the weekend should be hitting the streets collecting garbage by this evening.

The trucks were imported against the background of growing public concern about garbage collection across the island, a problem which the SSA said had largely to do with a lack of equipment.

SSA Chairman Senator Rudy Grant tells Starcom Network News the vehicles were being licensed this morning with the intention being to put them into service without delay.

Acting General Secretary of the NUPW Delcia Burke

The National Union of Public Workers which represents workers at the SSA welcomes the arrival of the new garbage trucks.

The NUPW and the SSA had reached a stalemate after several rounds of negotiations over the government’s plan to eliminate overtime for weekend work by garbage collectors.

Acting General Secretary of the NUPW, Delcia Burke, insists the problem at the SSA was never to do with the workers but the lack of equipment to work with.

Ms. Burke recommends that a proper maintenance program be put in place for the trucks and urges the government not to outsource the maintenance work.