St Bartholomew Primary closed after complaints about airport incinerator smoke

By Sheria Brathwaite

The Ministry of Education closed the St Bartholomew Primary School early on Thursday as teachers and students complained of feeling ill from acrid smoke billowing upwind from the airport incinerator.

The closure came a day after President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell was summoned to a meeting with teachers who insisted they could no longer endure the smoke and odour. Lovell, in turn, told the teachers that they had the right to put their health first even if that led to the disruption of classes.

In a pre-recorded statement, the ministry’s spokeswoman Gaynelle Marshall said education officials would meet on Friday with “all other parties” to find a solution.

“A representative from the ministry was on-site [Thursday] at the St Bartholomew Primary School collating information on the ongoing issue,” said the statement. “School meals had already been delivered and consumed and therefore we decided that students, teachers and staff alike could go home for the remainder of the day. 

“[Friday] is sports at Coverley for the school and in the meantime, ministry officials as well as all other parties will be in conversation to come up with a swift, healthy and safe solution for the students, teachers and staff.”

Unionised teachers said they had had enough, according to Julian Pierre, BUT vice-president and chair of its health and safety committee.

“The staff said enough is enough as they have been bearing the smoke and odour for too long,” said Pierre. “Over the years, the school would have been plagued with this issue and there were many cases of teachers and students getting transfers from the school because of respiratory issues. 

“We know definitely of a number of teachers who would have had surgical procedures, getting their thyroids removed, because of continued inhalation of the fumes from the incinerator on a daily basis.

“The ministry reported that the school closed in the afternoon but we believe that the school was closed prior to lunch. The staff obviously looked out for their health and took necessary actions that were supported by the BUT.”

Based on a meeting with airport management last year, Pierre said a wide range of substances and items were incinerated that could be detrimental to the health of those downwind.

“When we met with the management of the airport, they indicated that they burn on behalf of government agencies which include records, uniforms, and vegetable matter [the common description for marijuana seizures] they burn on behalf of the Barbados Police Service and they also burn garbage coming off of the planes, keeping in line with international regulations,” he said, adding that the airport management indicated that a scrubbing method would be used to help address the problem.

“They said the scrubbing process is to be done with each load of debris burnt and it seeks to reduce the amount of emissions, and it would change the colour of the smoke from black to clear. But considering that plastics are being burnt, which are toxic when lit, those emissions blowing in the air are affecting neighbouring communities immediately downwind.

“The staff were hopeful that for the new school year, which started last September, things would have changed since there was dialogue last year but there has been nothing this year to indicate that there would be further dialogue to have some resolve. The airport management had indicated they were in need of a new incinerator as the current one was outdated.”

In a statement on Wednesday, the airport’s communication specialist Sharleen Browne said the airport’s management team was aware of the problem, took it as a matter of importance, and was in the process of finding a sustainable solution. 

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb