Member of Parliament for Western St. Andrew, Anthony Hylton, has called for the government to develop a proper landfill in Riverton.
Mr. Hylton was contributing to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
The MP argued that the people of Riverton are creative, resilient and are "among the first in Jamaica to engage in the circular economy and sustain environmental practices of reuse, restore and recycle waste material", including through the development of the scrap metal industry.
The government has indicated that it will be moving to close the Riverton disposal site and Mr. Hylton is proposing that the residents of Riverton be allowed to continue to reap economic benefits with the development of a landfill.
"For many, it is the only work they have known and the objective now should be to close the existing dump site for sound environmental reasons, build a proper landfill on the remainder of the more than 100 acres of land already dedicated to waste disposal and management of waste, and to develop a waste industry that we have long argued for, I have long argued for," he insisted.
His proposal attracted jeers from some government MPs who questioned why residents should continue living near the dump site.
Garbage disposal experts have said it could take up to 30 years to decommission the disposal site.
