#BTSpeakingOut – Illegal dumpers are menaces to society

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Kammie Holder

Dear Minister Of the Environment, Minister Of Home Affairs, Minister Of Health, Commissioner Of Police, recently, over 700 volunteers took it upon themselves
to Clean Up Barbados.

One of the sites selected was Bucks Gully in St Thomas, which for many years has been a dumping ground for persons who have no respect for cleanliness.

It did not shock me, when the volunteers removed 66,150 lbs of garbage from Bucks Gully. It is very disgusting, and undermining of the efforts, of those volunteers who cleaned  garbage dumped at Bucks less that two weeks ago, for the area to be filthy once again.

The common thought among researchers, are that persons who litter tend to be of the view that no one cares for them, so why should they care about anything or anyone. Clinical psychologists also posit that chronic litterers believe that they can litter as others will pick up after them.

I have always held the strong belief that the tipping fee was not the cause of littering; culture beats strategy all the time. A pervasive culture of indiffernce to the dangers of littering has not resonated with the common man, up to those who enforce laws and the courts.

Again, let me offer four simple solutions that are free, and just call for someone to find time and will power to take action in a country where analysis paralysis
is very pervasive.

1) All freighters must be registered and must not be paid unless they show that they have deposited detritus to an authorised landfill.

It should also be an offence to hire a person who does not have releveant authorisation to transport waste, absolutely no person should hire any person who is not so registered or alternatively, it should be an offence for any person to transport waste without a permit from a registered landfill.

Therefore all person desirous of transporting waste
must acquire a permit at a fee which could also be refundable in part or full after waste is deposited at said authorised landfill.

2) Every electronic device imported into Barbados should carry a deposit fee that is refundable by government. Where are all the millions of cellphones with Cadmium, Lead, Arsenic, Chromium  imported into Barbados over the last 20 years, perhaps not in our landfills.

3) The serial number of all white goods should be provided to the Health Inspectorate/Environmental NGOs by customs or importers in a publicly accessible database for tracing.

Far too many white goods are dumped in gullies and canefields.

4) IPW…Importer Product Warranty places a duty of care through built-in cost for the importer to remain liable for the diposal of commodity at the end of its life. Who pays for all the condiment plastic bags ending up within our landfills?

Too many importers import containers that are not captured within the Returnable Containers Act. Worthwhile to note my own investigations have shown that many are indirectly charging deposits on bottles and refusing to redeem fees, claiming the fee is built into the cost. To say this is dishonest would be too strong a description.

Let us declare war on illegal dumpers, for a contaminated water supply, unneccessary flooding and destruction of nearshore coral reef are real threats
to life and limb.

Maybe, someone somewhere in Barbados will decide that the time for talk is over, for the currency of empty talk is now at junk status.

Kammie Holder is Director Of Advocacy Future Centre Trust.