PM meets with residents on Arawak

An independent study will be commissioned to determine whether residents of St Lucy who live near the Arawak Cement Plant are being negatively affected by its operations.

The decision was taken by Prime Minister Mia Mottley following a meeting yesterday that involved former St Lucy MP Peter Phillips, and General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU), Toni Moore, who visited residents in the areas surrounding the plant. They also held discussions with the management.

Mottley said the assessment was necessary as none had been conducted since 2007.

Residents of Checker Hall and Maycocks have been complaining for several years about the large amount of dust that emanates from the Cement Plant and settles on their properties.

They have also raised other issues of noise pollution, bright lights and feeling vibrations.

The Prime Minister, who was accompanied by St Lucy Member of Parliament Peter Phillips and general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) Toni Moore at the meeting, maintained that the findings of such a study were necessary.

Mottley lamented the fact that the results of the last study completed in 2009 were never released.

She said there would be an independent study to confirm that they were no harmful consequences arising from the operations at St. Lucy. This, she said, was essential for the peace of mind of residents, workers and management of Arawak.

She indicated that Government would have discussions with the PAHO to facilitate the independent study, similar to what had been done with the investigation of environmental challenges at Lower Estate, St Michael.

During the meeting, it was also revealed that management of the Cement Plant was taking steps to mitigate against any harmful effects caused by its operations.

This included the transition to filter bags in 2018, which were to have a lifespan of five years.

However, it was revealed that plans to procure new filter bags had been affected by the disruptions in the global supply chain and orders made in August last year had only arrived in late December.

To make matters worse the specialized labour needed to install the filter bags was not due to arrive until the end of January.

The Prime Minister suggested that labour should be fast-tracked.

Management at the plant also indicated that they would also be installing a special environmental monitoring system to allow for continuous monitoring of the dust and all gases emanating from the plant.

A meeting planned for today was scheduled to address these matters and the other concerns of the residents, including the urgent need for continuous watering and cleaning of the surrounding areas, the repairs needed to the roof of the jetty to mitigate the dust and a mechanism for continuous communication with residents. (RB)