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Port-of-Spain Mayor Chinua Alleyne is revealing that two city garbage trucks were deliberately sabotaged, an incident that has intensified the city’s longstanding sanitation challenges. At a press conference at City Hall yesterday, Alleyne said motor oil had been poured into the radiators of the trucks in May, rendering them non-functional. The sabotage was documented in a June 2025 report by the city’s transport and cleansing department and has been referred to the city police for urgent investigation.
“This is a very significant issue and one that has serious implications for the cleanliness of our city,” Alleyne said. He explained that the sabotage compounds an already difficult situation following the recent closure of the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) across Trinidad, including in Port-of-Spain. CEPEP had been responsible for environmental maintenance in various communities, and its sudden closure has left some areas unmaintained.
The mayor highlighted that the city’s garbage collection system is divided: the western half is serviced by the corporation’s own staff and fleet, while the eastern half is managed through contracts. Alleyne said much of the city’s fleet is ageing, with some compactor trucks over ten years old, and parts of the fleet date back to 2013. “Because of the age of the fleet, we experience significant breakdowns,” he said, noting that over the past two financial years, the council has invested more than $2 million in fleet maintenance. Despite this investment, he said, the reliability of the trucks remains a challenge, with compactor repairs often taking priority over other maintenance due to the urgency of sanitation needs.
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