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Manager of the Solid Waste Management Corporation Florian Mitchell has highlighted the company’s derelict vehicle removal drive as one of the projects which will receive greater focus this year.

Mr. Mitchell says since Hurricane Maria Solid Waste has disposed of hundreds of derelict vehicles and the effort will continue this year.

“Since the onslaught of Hurricane Maria we have been pursuing the removal of derelict vehicles. From Maria to now, we probably have removed in excess of six hundred plus vehicles and for this year alone we have removed around fifteen vehicles for the month of January. So that is a nice programme that we have implemented,” Mr. Mitchell stated.

Mitchell is appealing to the public to observe follow the safeguards that are in place for proper disposal of derelict vehicles. He says it’s not the responsibility of state institutions to remove derelict vehicles.

“The proper thing to do is to follow the necessary protocol. You contract a private institution to haul it to an approved site. What we have seen in Dominica, and again because of the support we get from the state, people tend to think that the services they get is free of charge. So we have vehicles through National Security that we use to conduct derelict vehicle removal,” Mr. Mitchell stated.

Mr. Mitchell noted that these abandoned vehicles often become breeding grounds for rodents which can have a negative impact on the health of the wider community.