Reifer to take case of the dump back to court

Residents of Lower Estate, Airy Hill, and surrounding St. George communities will once again be seeking relief from the High Court from the persistent nuisance and the resulting health challenges stemming from a landfill at the Lower Estate Quarry.

But this time, they have the backing of Floyd Reifer who has been continuously highlighting the issue from his political platform ever since announcing his intention to contest Wednesday’s by-election in St. George North.

On Monday, Reifer told Barbados TODAY that his lawyers would be filing a lawsuit on behalf of residents who for years have been suffering from the “public nuisance”.

“The residents are in full support of my action and my attorneys will be acting on their behalf to bring them relief through the legal process,” Reifer promised in a recent statement.

Sources close to the campaign have indicated that the matter may be taken to court as early as Tuesday morning.

Back in 2017, the Ministry of Health instructed Project Recycle Limited owned by Anderson Cherry to cease its operations at the landfill through an abatement notice. The company was also asked to clear the site of materials associated with the project.

In 2019, the court ruled that the quarry, which was originally zoned for mining was being used for solid waste disposal without the necessary planning permission. Subsequent reports suggest that residents were awaiting a final settlement, but they claimed that some operations were still occurring at the quarry.

“This dump is owned by Mr Cherry, and this is the dump I have been talking about every night on stage,” Reifer said during a tour of the constituency last Friday.

“I am sure you guys can smell what I am smelling, and [right now]… this is mild. It is not easy. This is the area where this stench is coming from and it is affecting people at Airy Hill, Lower Estate, and all around this St George area… sometimes people even smell it in Charles Rowe Bridge.

“People get up every morning and have to inhale this stench, including asthmatics. People have to be changing medication week after week because they get asthma attacks, and when you cook your food, you can’t even smell [the food], because all you smell is the dump.

“I am asking again for Prime Minister [Mia] Mottley and the Minister of the Environment to do something about this immediately,” he said.

When contacted, Mr Cherry neither confirmed nor denied that the landfill is still operational.  He however told Barbados TODAY: “I am inviting you and all of the media to the facility … and if he wishes, I would like to invite Mr Reifer and whoever is campaigning and let us have a discussion on the way forward.”

On Monday afternoon, Reifer’s campaign released a video in which residents again complained about the dump. In it, he vowed not to rest until the situation is resolved. 

“People can’t breathe… and it is so stink, especially when the rain falls. It is really, really bad,” one elderly woman complained.

“Before they had an election in 2018, they said they were going to do something with it. I don’t know if something has been done, because it still stinks,” she added.

One younger resident added: “The scent is horrible. People say it is just a garbage scent, but it’s not just garbage, it’s toxic. You can smell some sort of chemical and it’s awful.”

In reports earlier this year, residents asked that the area be designated an “environmental disaster” and asked for air quality, soil testing, and water quality testing to determine whether the Belle Pumping Station had been affected.

(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)