Latest update December 13th, 2024 1:00 AM
Medical assistance available for persons affected by dumpsite emissions
An excavator being operated at the dumpsite
Although the recent flare-up at the Le Repentir dumpsite is said to be under control, the City Council has streamlined a plan to ensure that medical assistance is available to residents who may have been affected by smoke emanating from the site.
This disclosure was made by Deputy Mayor Robert Williams who related to this newspaper that while the situation has been suppressed, efforts by technical staffers have still not been able to completely extinguish the fire, which he noted is about 30 feet below the surface of the garbage.
He said that the municipality is still awaiting expert advice on the situation which, according to City Mayor Hamilton Green, was created by spontaneous combustion.
The Deputy Mayor noted that although several residents have since expressed their dissatisfaction about the smoke-filled environment, it has been deduced that the situation is not as severe as initially anticipated.
Some of the residents are concerned that they will for a while longer remain vulnerable to the situation which has occurred on several previous occasions, although there has been word that dumping at the site would cease.
It was anticipated that through funding from the Inter-American Development Bank, the dumpsite would have eventually been converted to a recreational park. However, due to certain unforeseen hindrances, the plan has so far not come to fruition.
During April last year, a sizeable fire had erupted at the site, leading officials of the Council to hold an emergency meeting to determine how they could best address the then threatening situation.
It was discovered that the fire was sparked by an individual who exhibits peculiar behaviour.
According to Mayor Green, the site is considered a source of income for many people who try to extract copper from wire disposed at the site. The copper is acquired by burning the wire surface.
The Mayor had then pointed out that the whole situation comes as a result of a complete breakdown in discipline in the community even as the question of security at the dumpsite was raised.
The extent of that situation was so severe that a medical team was dispatched to the affected area to treat people in their homes while some residents were forced to relocate altogether.
But even at this point the City Mayor was pessimistic that the relocation of the site would become a reality in the very near future.
At the time of the eruption last year the Mayor had pointed out that there was assurance that the site would have been closed as at the end of November 2006.
But although this time around the situation has not been classified as severe, Deputy Mayor Williams said that a decision was taken to have persons affected be examined by medical officials at the Lodge Health Centre or at the South Road Clinic.
As such, persons who believe that they have been affected are free to visit the named facilities.
In the meantime, Williams said that municipal workers are continuing to bulldoze the landfill site with a view of getting to the source of the eruption.
Mayor Green had revealed to this newspaper that attempts are being made to secure expert assistance in this regard. He highlighted that the capacity of the Council is severely limited by its inadequate financial base thus no absolutely corrective measure could have been put in place to prevent such combustions.
The Mayor disclosed that in excess of $30M is spent monthly by the Council to collect and store garbage at the dumpsite, which has long exceeded its intended period of existence. He stressed that the maintenance of the site as a result has become a major strain for the Council.
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