Hundreds of ash-laden bags swept up in northern parishes

Close to 1,000 bags of ash were collected Wednesday in St Peter and St Lucy as the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA), National Conservation Commission (NCC)  and the Ministry of Transport and Works began to gather tonnes of deposits from St Vincent’s La Soufriere volcanic eruption.

The ash that has bedevilled households and businesses and triggered asthma attacks and other respiratory ailments for a week was also seen as a bonanza, according to Minister of Environment and National Beautification Adrian Forde who joined in moving the bags from residents who were unable to leave them by the roadside. He also hailed the start of the collections as a success and praised Barbadians for complying with the SSA’s requirements.

“The level of cooperation over the last couple of days certainly exceeded our expectations. Residents came out In their numbers,” Forde said, noting that they encountered little to no instances of ash mixed with household refuse.

Barbados TODAY caught up with work teams in Six Men’s, St Peter where over 300 bags of ash were collected. It was there Forde said the fine grey dust that rained down as a result of last week’s volcanic eruption was not waste but “treasure”. It also created new employment and business opportunities, he noted.

The environment minister said: “First, the pottery industry… there are some in the agriculture belt who are anticipating it as I speak because some of this is going to the NCC and another set will probably go to different areas, plantations and other agriculture industries that are requesting it. Other persons are using it in their households to bring neutrality to the soil, so it has a multifaceted set of uses that we can appreciate as Barbadians.

“It can be used as sandbags to protect from the vagaries of the water surges when there is flooding. Oftentimes persons head to the hardware stores to buy the bags of sands to use as a protective layer, use the ash for that as well.”

Residents in Six’s Men teamed up to clear the community of the volcanic ash. Jamar Griffith, an asthmatic, told reporters that the hard work was worth the effort.

“Personally, the ash has affected me,” he said. “Being an asthmatic, not only is it affecting the respiratory system but it also goes into the eyes.  In addition, I felt that it’s good to help out the community not only me being an asthmatic but other people, personally I feel it was best to help clean up the ash.

Another resident, Lisa-Ann Allamby urged other communities to team up to clean up their neighbourhoods.

She said: “In Six Men’s I must say we have to applaud the persons who came together, they really worked over a three-day period of time to clean the streets, it was a challenge especially when it was really dry.

“As an asthmatic as well, having little asthmatic attacks in between, wheezing and stuff because of the dust. We are thankful for the rain and the neighbourhood team spirit. We have to recognise that it cannot be done by one person, it requires the whole neighbourhood to come together and I want to encourage other neighbourhoods to do the same thing as well.”

The collections continue Thursday in St Philip and Christ Church and the environment minister said the teams will continue the effort as long as necessary to ensure the ash does not affect the island’s drainage system.

Forde said: We have started in this parish, but we will move around every nook and cranny ensuring that we are able to remove the ash so that it won’t be able to go in the drains and we are able to bring life back to a sense of normalcy. It is all about how we are building forward – a better country.” 
(SD)