Senators Push Back as WMA Proposes Ending Garbage Collection at Public Housing Following Department of Education Cuts

Interim CEO Daryl Griffith highlights $600,000 in potential savings by shifting trash collection responsibilities, but lawmakers criticize the approach

The Waste Management Authority has made significant progress in cutting costs, according to interim CEO Daryl Griffith. During his testimony before the Senate Committee on Budget, Appropriations, and Finance on Monday, Griffith noted that the authority’s budget overrun has dropped from $15 million two years ago to $2 million this year, which he highlighted as steady improvement in financial management.

Despite the positive trends described by Mr. Griffith, committee chair Senator Donna Frett-Gregory said she was “challenged” by some of the strategies used by the authority to reduce spending. She was particularly dismayed to learn of intentions to cease trash collection in housing communities and the end of trash collection at the territory’s public schools.