A frustrated Department of Parks worker has condemned dumping at public parks.

The member of staff forwarded pictures of household trash piling up at parks, which are all closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The employee who asked not to be identified, said: “We can’t really do anything — we don’t have anybody out working, so it’s just going to sit there until we get permission to go out.

“This means it’s going to blow around, it’s going to bring rats and maggots and make a bad smell by the time they do go to clean it up.”

He said the parks department had suffered “a major problem” before the shelter-in-place regulations were imposed because of an industrial dispute between trash collectors and the Government.

The man added that parks workers had to deal with trash such as discarded electrical appliances after last month’s industrial action by waste management crews.

He said: “It’s always been a problem, but right now people are sending us complaints and pictures.

“We’re getting a lot from Spittal Pond and John Smith’s Bay, where people are filling up the trash cans with household waste or leaving it beside the cans.”

He added that people who dumped their trash in parks were being spotted by members of the public and reported.

The man said parks workers were “anxious to get back to work” and hopeful that they would soon get clearance to return to normal operations.

Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the public works minister, earlier this month slammed “selfish, inconsiderate, and irresponsible” dumping during the shelter-in-place restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.

• Garbage should be put out before 7.30am only on scheduled collection days. Anyone with information on illegal dumping should contact the Ministry of Public Works education and enforcement officer at 501-3114 or by e-mail to vfgordon@gov.bm