The “undesirable build-up” of uncollected trash across the Island should be cleared by Saturday, Government insisted last night.The Ministry of Public Works issued a statement explaining that high volumes of waste after Christmas, a lack of working refuse trucks and a “concerted effort” to reduce overtime led to the pile-up.Admitting that only nine of the required 12 vehicles were in operation, the statement promised a “thorough examination of the manner in which the refuse trucks are serviced, with the expectation that there will be greater efficiency in this area”.No one from the Ministry was available to speak to The Royal Gazette last night but the statement said: “Over the Christmas and New Year period, the weekly quantity of residential waste traditionally increases.“As a result of the short work weeks over this period and the concerted effort of the Government to reduce overtime, there was the undesirable build-up of residential waste in certain areas.”It went on to say that as part of the Ministry’s efforts to reduce overtime, management refused to pay to have standby mechanics available to service broken-down refuse trucks, intending instead to have the vehicles fixed during normal work hours.The statement said: “When the refuse collection section became aware of the lack of standby mechanics, management was advised that the refuse collection section had refused to work overtime.”Bermuda Industrial Union president Chris Furbert told this newspaper the only workers who refused to do overtime were mechanics working at the government quarry at Bailey’s Bay, because they were losing their “standby” pay.Refuse workers at Marsh Folly, he added, worked overtime yesterday and were likely to do so again today.The Ministry’s statement said five of the entire fleet of 14 refuse trucks were awaiting service at the quarry. It said 12 trucks were normally required for trash collection but only nine were in operation.It said the refuse collection team and standby mechanics were working overtime this week, adding that the Ministry “anticipates that the backlog of residential waste will be cleared by Saturday”.The statement quoted Acting Public Works Minister Michael Weeks as saying: “The Ministry sincerely regrets the inconvenience experienced by the public affected by this situation and is actively striving to resolve the immediate issue of refuse collection and the longer term issue of maintaining residential waste service level and spending on overtime.”Union leaders met with Public Works Minister Derrick Burgess on Monday and a second meeting with refuse workers was held yesterday.The statement said the “impacts of the recession on the services provided by the Ministry and, specifically, the need to reduce overtime and increase productivity” were discussed.Works permanent secretary Robert Horton described the meeting as “extremely cordial and constructive”.A third meeting for all industrial workers will take place today at 8am at St Paul Centennial Hall in Hamilton.Mr Furbert said he hoped to see the issues resolved, adding that the refuse truck fleet was getting old and investment in new vehicles was needed.“If they get the vehicle fleet where it needs to be, there will be less need for overtime,” he added.l Waste can be taken directly to the Tynes Bay public drop-off facility on Palmetto Road, which will stay open until 9pm, starting today.