IN BARBADOS, the legal and regulatory solid waste framework is composed of: The Returnable Containers Act of 1986 and Health Services Act and the Sanitary Service Act. The Ministry of Environment and Drainage is responsible for legislation and policy development in Barbados. The Environmental Protection Department of the Ministry of Energy and the Environment is the primary environmental monitoring and pollution control agency.
The Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) is responsible for the street sweeping, collection, transportation and disposal of all household municipal solid waste as well as the operation of the disposal site on Barbados. The SSA is a semi-government organisation operated by the Ministry of Environment and Drainage. The Environmental Health Department is one of four main public sector agencies with responsibility for solid waste management issues and is part of the Ministry of Health. The Environmental Health Department is specifically responsible for the enforcement of guidelines and regulations as it relates primarily to public health and safety. The Environmental Health Department also visits and inspects the landfills regularly regarding any health issues.
Throughout the Caribbean region, solid waste management is not a well-recognized public policy issue, although its relevance to the economic and environmental spheres can be clearly perceived. Often solid waste management has to compete with other pressing economic and social issues, such as fiscal and trade matters, poverty and unemployment, education and health, and many times it does not received the required priority in the political agenda. An effective solid waste management institutional arrangement requires a clear definition of entities involved in solid waste management and their respective roles as well as a clear set of laws and regulation that clearly define how effective and sustainable solid waste management services – both in technical and financial terms – are to be provided.
In the Caribbean countries there is still room for improvement on both aspects. In only a few countries a comprehensive national solid waste management legal and regulatory framework has been established and in many cases, policies and regulations in place are obsolete and require updating in order to reflect the current status of the country and the sector.
In many cases, several institutions are involved in solid waste management activities, without a clear definition of their roles, hindering coordination among stakeholders in detriment of the sector efficiency. In other cases, there is no clear definition of the entity responsible for policy development, regulation or enforcement. Collection and disposal activities are in some cases carried out by the regulator, which can create a loss of efficacy on the performance of the solid waste management services.
It is crucial to establish an institutional structure that clearly defines the entities involved in solid waste management and the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders (the government, the private sector and the civil society). In order to establish a workable institutional structure for solid waste management, it is crucial to establish a legal and regulatory framework through the promulgation or updating of the required acts, regulations and guidelines.
To achieve sectoral transformation each country needs to identify a “champion” to drive the solid waste management agenda. Without this focused effort, this agenda often does not get the attention it deserves, especially since it impacts on all facets of development. Lastly, it is crucial to take into account that sector transformations need funds and planning.
These views were authored by Rodrigo Riquelme, Paola Méndez, and Ianthe Smith of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and published by the IDB.
