Joan Gordon-Webley: 'I'm ready to help'

Former NSWMA boss offers helping hand following failed political bid

BY AINSWORTH MORRIS Career & Education writer morrisa@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, January 08, 2012

JOAN Gordon-Webley has offered a helping hand to the new management of the National Waste Authority (NSWMA), which she successfully headed before tendering her resignation after four years, in the interest of re-entering representational politics a few months ago.

"Under my leadership, we started to revolutionise that place. People were working and it was not a crash programme. You could see the work. It wasn't a government subvention and it (the profits) multiplied ten fold," Gordon-Webley told Career & Education.

"I got the greatest job satisfaction from working at the NSWMA; I got a chance to use my brain. I just hope whoever takes over gives it their best shot. I want them to know that I am available because Jamaica belongs to all of us," she said.

Gordon-Webley's offer comes in the wake of her defeat on the Jamaica Labour Party ticket in the East Rural St Andrew constituency at the hands of political neophyte Damion Crawford who won for the People's National Party.

The former NSWMA boss was quick to add that she does not want her old job back, and was interested only in seeing the projects she had started and others that were on the brink of being launched continued and the outstanding goals achieved.

Gordon-Webley has in the past said that she is committed to the success of the agency, no matter the party in power.

"I am not going to be the one to say 'no' because my government is not in. While we each support a party, whichever government wins, is the government of the day and we have to put some input in so that we can survive," said the self-styled 'chief garbage woman in Jamaica', speaking at the launch of the Flow/Earthbound Recycling Project last September.

Gordon-Webley now says she knows the details of all the plans that were drafted before she left the NSWMA — including the planting of some 35 acres of land which the agency, under her leadership, had leased from the Urban Development Corporation. The lands were planted with sod grass, palm trees, ornamental trees, fruit trees and compost with the objective being to beautify sections of the island.

And she said she is available to answer any questions and help the NSWMA in any way possible.

"Any consulting or questions they may have, I am willing to sit with them and show them. I honestly will because I don't want anything to be lost," she said.

Up to press time, it was unclear whether the new management of the NSWMA — with Colonel Allan Douglas as the new executive director — would take her up on her offer. Attempts to get a comment from the new boss or any other executive at the agency proved futile.