Piles of domestic garbage continued to build up outside homes over the weekend, despite Government assurances that it was working to clear a backlog of uncollected trash.

And one Opposition MP has said he was “appalled” at the situation and asked how Government had allowed the problem to develop.

Scheduled trash pickups were derailed at the start of the month because of the Cup Match holiday on July 31 and August 1.

And bad weather this week, including several heavy downpours, has hampered efforts to reduce the backlog.

On Friday, the Ministry of Public Works confirmed that collection crews were still “behind schedule” in the East End following the Cup Match holiday.

“The Ministry was expecting East End collection to be completed on Thursday but the heavy rains impacted the collection schedule and this has caused a further delay,” a Ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman added that Government was “taking all the necessary steps to clear the backlog as soon as possible”, and that the backlog was expected to be cleared early this week.

And they advised residents to re-bag their trash or take it to the Tynes Bay Public Drop Off Facility on Palmetto Road, Devonshire for proper disposal.

But no collections took place over the weekend, which witnessed further heavy rains.

The problem prompted a surge of complaints on social media websites such as Facebook. Critics pointed out that the Cup Match holiday was a scheduled event and that officials should have planned collections in advance to account for the short working week.

And last night the Progressive Labour Party’s Michael Weeks questioned if cost-cutting measures imposed by Government were putting the public’s health in jeopardy.

The Shadow Community Minister, who served as Public Works Minister in the last PLP administration, said a fleet of new trash trucks had been brought in when he headed up the department.

“We had issues with trash collection and so in May 2012, brought in five new trucks to bring the fleet up to snuff,” the Pembroke East Central MP said.

“So these issues really should be a thing of the past. I’m appalled. Government needs to say what is causing the backlog. We have been celebrating Cup Match for 100 years so you can’t blame a long weekend for the build-up — it’s not as if it’s a new holiday.

“And as for the rain, well, I’m certainly not unsympathetic to workers who pick up trash, but how much rain does it take to stop the job getting done?

“One has to ask if the furlough is affecting pickup and if it is, it’s another example of this Government lacking foresight. Are we letting our environment go to pot, with sidewalks not being cut and trash not being picked up, for the sake of saving a few dollars? Because if we don’t get on top of it, this could develop into a hazard.

“We have to put people first and, if furlough days are the cause, Government needs to revisit the issue and recognise that furlough days across the board aren’t necessarily working.”

Public Works Minister Patricia Gordon Pamplin did not respond to e-mailed questions yesterday, although a Government spokesman did confirm that no collections took place over the weekend.