The City of Hamilton is swimming in garbage-related problems, The Royal Gazette was told yesterday. City officials want residents to clean up their acts immediately.

The City has found people are increasingly bringing their trash from home into Hamilton, blatantly littering in the streets and, this week, City trash collectors found an unbroken container of a hazardous cleaning agent carelessly deposited in a sidewalk bin.

Corporation of Hamilton Secretary Roger Sherratt said yesterday, that had the hazardous agent not been spotted, it might have gone into a trash compactor and blasted toxic fumes at City workers.

More perplexing still is the fact that many people are bringing their trash from home - outside the city - and dumping within Hamilton boundaries. City taxpayers are getting stuck with the bill.

"Maybe they miss their collection day, so they bring it into the city and dump it by a bin," said Mr. Sherratt.

Unlike the twice weekly trash collection crews on the Island, the City must pay for each load of trash dumped at Tynes Bay incinerator.

"When we take the trash to Tynes Bay it's weighed and we pay a fee just like any corporate organisation," said Mr. Sherratt.

In effect, he said, city taxpayers end up paying "double cost" because their taxes pay the salaries of City workers and the second bill for the disposal of this extra trash at the incinerator.

Worse yet, the trash that should be deposited into the city's bins isn't even making it there, he said. More and more litter is being dropped in the street.

A plan is in the works to thwart the litterbugs. Mr. Sherratt said those caught throwing trash on the streets of Hamilton may soon find themselves on trash collection duty.

Meetings are underway with Police to begin cracking down on littering, he said.

Police will be on the lookout for litterbugs and those caught will find themselves in court in an effort to stem the problem, he added.

Rather than simply pay the fines the Island already has in place to deter the slovenly habit, Mr. Sherratt said the City would like to see those people sentenced to community service - and in particular, street clean-up.