28 February 2014

Dear Sir,

I don’t work in the Waste Management Department of the Government; I don’t even work in the Department of Works and Engineering or for the Government, so I’m hoping someone in any of those departments can explain something to me.

I leave my trash out like everyone else for it to be collected on the days allocated. Some days it is collected at 8am, most days it is collected at 8pm. Am I under the wrong impression here that the employees are being paid time and a half, or double time, when they are collecting the trash at 8pm?

I’m at a loss here to figure out how on some days this job can be done in just a few hours and other days it requires it to go on into the night. I see the trucks at 8pm so I am pretty sure these employees aren’t walking their route. If they were then I would understand. I would also go as far to venture a guess that they aren’t getting lost along the way as they go this route twice a week. Well maybe not twice a week all the time.

We’re all aware that Government spending is one of the major issues we have facing Bermuda at the moment. If we aren’t going to lay off jobs then surely we should be looking at why we are paying 50-100 percent more in wages for jobs that should be getting done in the normal working hours? Why isn’t this being cracked down on?

Don’t get me wrong, I love coming home to a festering pile of waste on my doorstep when I come home from work. Actually, one of my guilty pleasures is testing my driving skills on my moped as I manoeuvre around the scattered obstacles of what my neighbours consumed during the week. A close second would have to be the satisfaction I get from seeing how long I can hold my breath before I pass out and crash my bike due to the misty odour of sun baked waste that greets me in the evening.

The strike last summer made that an exciting time for me as it produced scents I did not know even existed. I think I managed to hold my breath for almost a minute before I blacked out and woke up in a pile of Glad bags.

I took even more pleasure in the fact that we all footed the bill to pay overtime for the collection of waste that was as a result of their strike action. A genius move on their part. Perhaps those that write their cheques can show some of that innovation and come up with ideas on how to put an end to this overspend?

Regards,

RONAN

Paget