By Lorraine Mendez
The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is battling a fire at the Doctors Wood disposal site in Portland.
NSWMA Executive Director Audley Gordon says the fire was reported Monday night and the agency immediately began working to contain the blaze.
He says the blaze is affecting the tipping phase of the dump which contains raw garbage.
"But we are doing the best we can and we will be working deep into the night to ensure that we put out as much of the blaze. We believe that sometime tomorrow - early tomorrow to midday thereabout - we should put this fire behind us," he told Radio Jamaica News late Tuesday afternoon.
At that time, he said the work to extinguish the fire was about 40 per cent complete.
He said the initial response was affected by the lack of an excavator but MP Daryl Vaz helped to secure one, which is on the way to the site.
The NSWMA executive director said windy conditions caused the blaze to spread rapidly and resulted in a smoke nuisance.
