Beach and park dumping a worry

Acting General Manager of the National Conservation Commission (NCC) Ryan Als is pleading with Barbadians to stop indiscriminate dumping on beaches and in parks across the island.

He is also urging landowners to take responsibility for trees on their properties which may impede beach access when they fall.

Als’ pleas came against the background of what he said was a noticeable increase in the amount of garbage on beaches and in parks. It also comes on the heels of a recent incident in the Speightstown area where a huge manchineel tree that was on private property fell onto a section of a nearby beach.

When contacted by Barbados TODAY about the tree which fell over a month ago during the passage of Hurricane Elsa, Als said he was in touch with the people renting the property and he gave the assurance that it should be removed soon.

The official said while the NCC had no problem assisting individuals in removing items from their private property at a cost, once workers are able to access the area, he wanted people to take responsibility for keeping the beaches free of obstacles.

“My concern is that you are causing a problem for persons accessing the beach if you don’t remove fallen trees,” said Als.

“We have trees on our properties that we have to prune from time to time so we do not affect the adjacent property owners. The onus is also on the property owners adjacent not to create any challenge for beachgoers. We do it for the safety of the public and the persons around us and the adjacent property, but the same is not often done to secure and make good on things that affect others,” he added.

In relation to dumping, Als said a number of individuals continued to deliberately dispose of their waste on beaches and in parks.

“We have issues where persons bring garbage to the beach and to the parks and deposit [it] there. That is not acceptable. You have persons on the roadways cleaning and as they finish cleaning you see people come and throw things there,” he complained.

Urging Barbadians to take more pride in their surroundings and help to keep the country clean, Als told Barbados TODAY the constant dumping of garbage in undesignated areas was putting a strain on the NCC’s already stretched human and financial resources.

While the cleaning and care of the public parks and beaches fall under the ambit of the NCC, that government agency works closely with the Ministry of Health and the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA).

“People are bringing their garbage to the beach and dumping it, and to the parks and dumping it and even take it and throw it to the side of the road. And then the NCC and the Sanitation Service Authority have to go in and clean all of these areas which takes up time and taxpayers’ money to clean when we could be more focused on doing other things such as cleaning up garbage from the designated areas and maintaining the beaches and the parks,” he lamented.

“When the people come and dump [commercial] waste I now have to bring resources that could be doing other things to bolster the five people that would be in that area usually, because they cannot handle that.”

Als warned that if the practice of indiscriminate dumping on the beaches and in the parks did not stop, it could start affecting the quality of recreation for all residents using those areas.

“What will happen is that people who want to use the beach will suffer. There is always a spinoff,” he said.
(MM)