The Laws and Consequences
There is indeed a law which prevents indiscriminate disposal of garbage. The Anti-Litter Act was passed in 1985, and it was later replaced by the National Solid Waste Management Act of 1991. People are observed throwing garbage from moving vehicles or disposing of their waste along the road or in open lots. The authorities decided to count how many times, in a 20-minute drive they saw persons ditching garbage from moving vehicles, though, after they reached 30, it became too depressing so they stopped.
According to local government minister in 2013, Noel Arscott, who had responsibility for solid waste management, "We are not enforcing our laws." He added that the fines of $2,000 are diminutive, as he planned to seek to strengthen penalties. Whenever the question of law enforcement is raised, the immediate response is to point to the overcrowded schedule of the courts and the limited resources of the undermanned police force.
Did You Know?
....That there is a lack of enforcement of these simple laws.
....That one million birds and 100,000 sea creatures die due to litter in the oceans.
....That we once had had anti-litter administrators, and there was general anticipation that if the new law was enforced properly, we would have had a cleaner environment.
....That it is a crime to litter, yet the general population continues to ignore this law.
....That cigarette butts form a great part of the litter that is dumped in public spaces.
....That the most common object found during litter clean up is fast food litter.
Conclusion
In the end, Jamaica desperately needs to improve the law enforcement capability. This can only be achieved if the security forces are administered with more resources, tools and expertise, and if they understand that enforcement should begin with the supposedly ‘soft’ crimes.