Calls for action on illegal dumping mark Earth Day in Barbados

Decades of anti-dumping campaigns have failed to solve Barbados’ illegal waste problem, according to UNICEF Youth Advocate Ashley Lashley, who issued a strong call for action as the island marked Earth Day.

“To be honest, illegal dumping continues to be one of the most frustrating and persistent environmental issues we face in Barbados. It’s an issue that has been discussed for decades long before I was even born,” Lashley told Barbados TODAY. “We’ve had countless campaigns, educational drives, and public clean-ups. And yet, we still see garbage dumped in gullies, on roadsides, and near our coastlines.”

For Lashley, who has spent the last several years advocating for sustainable practices and climate justice, the situation remains disappointing. Despite years of awareness initiatives, she believes progress remains painfully slow.

“As a young Barbadian who has grown up hearing the same messages repeated year after year, it’s disheartening to witness how little has changed in this area. We cannot continue to set ambitious sustainability goals for 2030 and beyond while turning a blind eye to the everyday environmental damage happening right in front of us,” she said.

She added: “It’s clear that education alone isn’t enough. What’s needed now is consistent enforcement, community accountability, and perhaps most importantly, a cultural shift in how we view waste and our shared spaces. This issue isn’t just about environmental degradation, it’s about public health, tourism, and national pride. We have to ask ourselves: how serious are we about becoming a truly green and resilient island if we can’t solve a problem as basic and as long-standing as illegal dumping?”

Amid the environment campaigner’s remarks, lawmakers were echoing her concerns as they passed a new Bill to protect the island’s water resources, stepping up the penalty for dumpers to $20 000.

In the House of Assembly, Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams highlighted the buildup of waste in drainage systems ahead of a tropical system during Tuesday’s debate on the Storm Water Management Bill. He called for year-round vigilance, not just when disaster looms.

He said: “On the day before the hurricane, you see the people knowing the rain is coming, they go and clean up outside their yards. They bring in the garbage if the garbage is not collected . . . . People do everything when the system is impending, when it’s about to hit us. We know if we don’t do it, it would potentially affect exactly where we live. Why should we not do that all the time?”

Abrahams added: “If you see the amount of stuff that gets taken out of the drains in and around Bridgetown in the 24 hours before a store, it should not be there. That one plastic bag you throw out, that one bottle you throw out, would add to the other bottles, and the other plastic bags that other people throw out and cause somebody to lose everything.

“We are now coming to that time of the year, in the same way the government has taken the position for us to be proactive and to recognise the reality of where we are, then we also need Barbadians to recognise the reality of where we are.”

(SB)