By Marlon Madden
A conservation advocacy group has joined residents in the St Lawrence area in urging the government to take immediate action to protect the island’s largest wetland, the Graeme Hall Swamp, and to urgently upgrade the nearby South Coast Sewage Treatment plant.
They have warned that the ecosystem is in grave danger, and inaction threatens both the environment and the health of nearby residents.
Lani Edghill, executive director of the Land Conservancy (TLC), expressed disappointment that little progress has been made in protecting the wetland and upgrading the sewage treatment plant despite promises made over the last five years.
Residents have also reported an increasing stench in the area over the past several months, raising concerns of a potential sewage catastrophe.
“The Land Conservancy is very concerned that the ecosystem is in peril,” Edghill told Barbados TODAY.
A popular ecological attraction, Graeme Hall was threatened during the south coast sewage crisis of 2017/2018. The government had announced plans to remodel the wetland and upgrade the sewage treatment plant to a tertiary treatment facility by 2020/2021, but these plans have not yet materialised.
The water in the channel is blanketed with algae and microorganisms.
Earlier this year, TLC and Graeme Hall National Park submitted a petition to the Mia Mottley administration, urging the declaration of the swamp as an open space category two (OS2) conservation area.
Edghill emphasised the critical role of the mangrove ecosystem in safeguarding the environment and residents from extreme climate conditions, highlighting the need for swift action. She pointed out that the last test conducted in 2019 found that a significant number of fish in the wetland had died due to high levels of microbes.
“There are a number of things out of balance in the system,” she declared. “As an environmentalist, I do believe the ecosystem is in peril and if we don’t do something about it soon we are very likely going to lose it, especially considering our stance on the world stage as climate change fighters, yet our last remaining mangrove forest on the island is in peril and we have failed to put any proper management systems in place to manage,” she said.
Worthing area residents and property owners have reached out to the Barbados Water Authority, the Ministry of the Environment, and Dr William Duguid, Member of Parliament for Christ Church West, seeking answers and action. They complain of unbearable sewage odours, allergies, and a lack of infrastructure improvements.
“As a concerned resident of the Worthing area and a property owner in Rendezvous Ridge East, we have reported on numerous occasions to the BWA the awful stench of sewage. It is unbearable and allergy-causing. The situation seemed to be raising its ugly head over the last six months, just in time for the coming tourist season,” said one resident.
“The stench is more noticeable. You smell it as you sit down to have dinner, as you walk the roads . . . . It has been five years since we had the sewage in the roads and the government promised to fix the problems. To date, the temporary outfall has not been improved. The infrastructure to create a better solution to deal with waste has been neglected,” he added.
Residents expressed concern that another sewage overflow could occur and criticised the lack of communication and transparency from authorities. Dr Duguid assured residents that work on the sewage plant was still in the early stages and promised that as authorities “move through the process . . . the community will be notified”.
Barbados TODAY attempted to obtain a response from the Ministry of the Environment but was unsuccessful. However, the BWA issued a statement last Tuesday, denying claims made by president of the Democratic Labour Party Dr Ronnie Yearwood that sewage was flowing into the Graeme Hall swamp, stating that all sewage from the south coast has been tested and pumped safely to the outflow treated since early 2019.
Residents called on the BWA to share recent testing results and findings, emphasising the urgency of addressing the issue to protect public health.
Prime Minister Mottley recently announced progress toward securing $600 million in financing for the sewage treatment plant upgrade. However, she said that upgrade may not occur before 2025.
Frustrated residents are concerned about the slow progress and lack of community engagement, demanding answers and tangible action.
“We need to determine existing conditions before we can move forward, and also the community must be engaged and involved in this discussion,” said Edghill. “They want to be, and they are reaching out to the government asking for information. They are being shut down and [being told] ‘things are in process and it is happening’, yet that is all we hear and nothing happens five years later.”
“We want answers and we want to see something actually happen,” she declared.
