Dumps need security, says NSWMA chairman
Published:Tuesday | July 31, 2018 | 12:00 AMJason Cross/Gleaner
Dennis Chung, chairman of the National Solid Waste Management Authority, told The Gleaner yesterday that arsonists were responsible for the majority of the 11 fires at several dumps across the island in the last two months, raising concerns about security at disposal facilities.
"Most are suspected to be set by arsonists. Flammable liquid was found leading from the fire at Riverton," he told The Gleaner.
Bemoaning the lengthy process of privatisation of the island's waste sites that commenced in 2015, Chung said that persons living on the dump should be relocated because it was not healthy to be there. Chung also pointed out that effective security, other than that of police and soldiers, was needed on the dump. "A few years ago, we had a watchman who saw someone stealing gasolene, and they killed him," he disclosed.
Meanwhile, commenting on fires at four dump sites across the island in the past three weeks, Suzanne Stanley, the chief executive officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust, yesterday expressed concerns that the health of thousands of Jamaicans continued to be compromised.
The more recent fires occurred at the Church Corner dump in St Thomas yesterday, and another at Riverton dump in St Andrew, which was triggered on Sunday. Stanley asserted that successive governments had failed to create proper landfills.
"We do not have landfills in Jamaica. A landfill is a very sophisticated waste-disposal facility, where you separate organic waste from combustible material and plastic. Nothing should be mixing together. Anything of a hazardous nature should be covered so frequently that the possibility of it combusting would be at a minimum," explained Stanley.
"After the big 2015 fire, there was security at the Riverton dump, but now we are back to the same situation. I am seriously concerned about the health of residents. I was lost for words on Sunday night. It is beyond frustrating. We received reports as far as Papine about smoke," she said.
Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie yesterday assured citizens that the fire at Riverton had been brought under control and would be extinguished soon. He reported significant progress in controlling the fire in St Thomas.