Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
Residents were taken on a walk-through the Providenciales Landfill, expressing their concerns and seeing the ongoing work, guided by the Caribbean Development Bank consultants who are helping to restore it.
The invitation comes as one resident is expressing confusion over what management of the landfill entails and is requesting to see the contents of the $2.9 million contract awarded to the new managers.
The April 3 invitation from the Environmental Health Department makes provisions for ‘stakeholders from the wider community’ to participate in a Representative Committee where residents will be able to visit and witness all the remediation works being undertaken at the dump, foremost of which is the extinguishing of the deep fires which cause smoke nuisance to residents.
The sessions will be held at specified times in groups of five according to the EHD.
Shaun Malcolm, Minister of Health and Human Services, in thanking the EHD for the initiative, said the process is a partnership whereby the people of the country get to view first-hand the steps being taken to improve Waste Management in the country.
Over the past year under Malcolm with significant work put in by Kyle Knowles, Wheeland MP and now Minister of Public Safety and Utilities the restoration of the landfill has been a fairly open process with information provided to the public about the ongoing process at regular junctions.
However, after years of mismanagement, resulting in recurring fires and smoke filled days for the people of Wheeland district some are still unsure.
A day before this initiative, Malcolm himself had been named in a letter penned by Finbar Grant, Attorney and former PDM candidate
“As a constituent and one who is directly affected by the smoke and odor, I am not sure of the specific objective to be achieved by this new management company, save for the quote you made in the newspaper that the fires are to be a thing of the past. Of late, we have had emissions and odor,” Grant explained.
To augment his understanding of what exactly TCI Green Ecological Corporation would be doing, Grant requested a copy of the $2.9 million contract signed between them and the government.
“I believe that transparency is crucial in understanding the terms and conditions of the contract, as we as a constituency may know what to expect and what is promised so we can hold all parties accountable — transparency is essential for good governance, and as one who is directly affected, we have a right to understand what is to be expected,” he maintained.
Malcolm has not yet responded to the letter which has been shared with him by our news team.
