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Smoke is still emanating from the fire which started on Monday at Retirement disposal site in St. James.
Heavy winds and rain have slowed the progress of the team working to cover the area.
Audley Gordon, Executive Director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), says the team expects the smoke to dissipate today.
"It rained all day yesterday practically, and so we had to contend with that too. However, the blaze was out within a day and a half, and the smoke nuisance, which was still lingering up to yesterday, was what we're trying to contain by using cover material. We have covered [the area] significantly. Right now, probably...under five per cent of the area [is] left to be covered, and once that is done we will arrest the smoke nuisance once and for all."
The agency has confirmed that the fire was deliberately lit.
No suspect has been identified.
More security needed
In the meantime, Opposition Spokesperson on Local Government Denise Daley has called for portfolio minister Desmond McKenzie to address the fires at the Retirement and Riverton disposal sites when he speaks in the upcoming sectoral debate.
Ms Daley said there is need for security or better monitoring of the disposal sites to prevent acts of arson.
Speaking with Radio Jamaica News, Miss Daley expressed concern about the effects of the smoke on residents in communities close to the sites.
She noted that there was a plan to upgrade the Retirement dump some years ago from its "deplorable condition" and to equip it with a fire suppression system which would allow fires to be put out quickly. However, she said nothing has been done.
"I was told in about two to three years ago that that dump would have been upgraded because the dump is in a deplorable condition. As a matter fact, I don't even know if we can really call it a dump. It was to be upgraded and they would put into the dump a fire suppression – something that will be able to quickly out fires as soon as they started. Nothing has been done.
"I personally believe it's a neglect and it [the dump] should not be in that area. The location where it is, it creates problems for the tourists, it creates problems for the citizens who live in and around that area," she contended.
Miss Daley is recommending the separation of waste at disposal sites and removing highly flammable items, such as tyres.
"The tires are the ones that they use as their first contact to cause these fires, and the tires are placed there. "We need to probably find another store house or a store place to put tyres and separate the garbage. And that is another big problem, 'cause if we're really talking about solid waste, we have to talk about the separation of these waste in order that we can either put it back to use or to dispose of it totally," suggested the MP.
In 2020, the government announced the implementation of a programme aimed at safely disposing of millions of used tyres generated in the country annually.
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