Stiffer penalties are coming for illegal dumpers.
So said the Ministry of Environment, following increasing pleas from environmentalists and Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) workers.
Acting Minister of Environment, Beautification and the Blue and Green Economy Corey Lane emphasised that this tough stance on illegal dumping needed to be in place if environmental concerns were to be adequately addressed.
“I can sense the frustration of the people at the SSA, the guys on the truck, [because of] the dumping of the animals, the faeces and the broken glass in the garbage . . . . They are frustrated. They’re working when we’re sleeping and they believe that people who indiscriminately dump get off too lightly,” Lane said.
“This is something that they’ve been expressing to me and to the substantive minister, so it’s definitely something, as a country and a ministry, that we’ve got to have a stance and standard on in order to improve. We definitely have to be looking for stiffer penalties concerning persons who flout the law and put the country in jeopardy as it relates to the environment and public health,” he added.
Throughout the year, various cases of illegal dumping have been highlighted in the press, such as an unwrapped sheep carcass stuffed in Government-issued bins along Breedy Land, Christ Church.
The most recent was the discovery of a large amount of engine oil discarded in Blackman’s Gully, St Joseph.
In response to the engine oil pollution, environmental activist Peter Bynoe made an urgent call for tougher legislation to curb the dumping problem.
51 dumps
Earlier this year, a project held by the Caribbean Youth Environment Network uncovered 51 illegal dumps in Barbados’ UNESCO World Heritage sites.
These dumps, found in Bridgetown and areas of the Garrison, St Michael, were identified as detrimental to “human health and well-being, the environment and sustainable development”.
Lane mentioned that one of the propositions for enacting penalties involved the sensitisation of judiciaries and the police towards cases of environmental and dumping offences.
“The SSA and the ministry have been doing their part to be able to provide evidence of people stepping outside of the law and now we’ve had greater cooperation with the police in terms of actually bringing persons before the courts.
“The next step is to see when they get to court. At first you may get a warning but there must be increased consequences to change behaviour and change culture. Because if people get a little slap on the wrist all the time, it sends a message that they can continue to do this,” Lane said.
Back in August, during an address to the media, Minister of Environment Adrian Forde said future House sittings would debate a bill which, when enacted, would result in stricter penalties for perpetrators of illegal dumping. (JRN)
