Trash pickup and politics
Sometimes you would think that garbage pick up, aka, solid waste services are not even remotely related to politics. Then you read an article about equipment and their costs to accomplish the task at hand.
Simply stated: mechanical arms are there to keep the number of employees at a minimum while increasing efficiency, right? Well even though the cost of Work Safe B.C. payments may not be applied to the mechanical arms, replacement and maintenance is there for all to see. The facts are in, you always need a spare vehicle even though it sits most of the time.
Jumping into the whole thing, foresight should have been used unless someone’s idea needed to come into being at a limited cost to achieve that goal (politics) and look good in the eyes of the rate payers. Calling the purchase of the vehicles in question a good idea for the future seems to be a bit of a blow up, looking at the cost of repairs.
Having a garbage truck with a lift assembly on the hopper (back) as a spare, and have a person, an employee, roll the containers to the back and push buttons works in a pinch and gets the job done — injuries are way down if the containers are out at the street, one could go on.
Get it right Mr. Stevens — there are municipalities that have this kind of thing sorted out! Don’t complain, get busy.
Don Richardson
Shawnigan lake