POND ISLAND - The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) on Thursday said it is “more than happy” with the work carried out by its new cleaning and garbage collection firm, “and judging from the response of the public and government, we are not alone.”
After several years of working with one particular firm, the foundation went a different route in 2016 contracted Quality Sweepers & Maintenance under the directorship of Bertaux “Mr. Rude” Fleming and staffed only by local young men. Their specific tasks were the cleaning of routes along which Carnival roads events pass, the cleaning of public places where the SCDF hosts Carnival events and the cleaning and garbage removal of Carnival Village for the entire Carnival season.
“It goes without saying that we are extremely pleased, more than happy, with the work of Bertaux and his crew,” Director of Carnival Mike Granger said. “We took a chance in giving a St. Maarten entrepreneur a chance during St. Maarten’s premier event. Bertaux understood that this was not going to be an easy task and that Carnival would be a real baptism by fire for his new company. They went out and performed exceptionally,” Granger added.
He further explained that Fleming and his crew didn’t just show up to clean and collect garbage, but studied the entire operation of the Village and road events to determine better ways to execute the tasks at hand. Fleming also educated booth holders on how to dispose of certain types of garbage by distributing information pamphlets and personally checking in with booth holders about keeping their area clean.
“This wasn’t a preparation process done in a few weeks, this took months of meetings and preparation. Garbage bags were custom ordered for the bins in Carnival Village which allowed the crew to remove the bags during big nights instead of having garbage pile up in and around bins, the crew removed bones and other food items that would typically attract flies. This Carnival was the first in many years where we didn’t have a single complaint about flies. Not a single complaint. By the end of Carnival, the Village was as clean as it was at the beginning,” Granger added.
He also said this Carnival was the first that the foundation didn’t receive complaints from government officials. “In fact, top management at the Ministry of VROMI and others called to praise the work that was done by Quality Sweepers and indicated that a very positive assessment will be given about the company.
“I would like to thank the board of the SCDF and its president Mr. Mike Granger for giving Quality Sweepers the opportunity to service the cleaning needs of Carnival,” Fleming said. “Our goal was to create a hygienic environment and get rid of the flies that has been plaguing the village for years, this goals were achieved and everyone are happy both booth holders and patrons alike.
“The job was done by all local boys that handled the waste management with passion. As a young local business man I continue to create our own opportunities which creates jobs for locals and helps to boost our economy and social welfare. Quality Sweepers plan to take the Carnival waste management to another level, improving the environment for both locals and visitors alike. Mr. Granger is setting a prime example by giving young locals the opportunity with an obvious result something the country should follow suit,” Fleming added.
Concluded Granger: “The SCDF hopes that anyone, including government, that requires a positive, hard-working, local company to provide waste management, would reach out to Quality Sweepers and give them the opportunity to do for you what they did for Carnival. We congratulate Bertaux and his crew on a job well done and look forward to working with them for many years to come.”
Quality Sweepers can be contacted by emailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling 5593513.