Government missed the opportunity to avert the South Coast sewage crisis when it did not accept Anderson Cherry’s Project Recycle proposal nine years ago.
That’s the contention of managing director Anderson Cherry, who spoke to the DAILY NATION yesterday.
He said the proposal was first submitted in 2009, but was not accepted despite subsequent submissions.
Cherry said that project would have taken care of materials such as oils and grease by disposing of them via an anaerobic digestive system and would also have significantly reduced infiltration of the country’s aquifers.
According to the proposal, the anaerobic system would also reduce the illegal dumping of those materials in gullies across the country.
Officials at the Barbados Water Authority have gone on record as saying they found deposits of fats, oils and grease in the sewer line while flushing the network. They added this had contributed to the blocking of the sewer line, exacerbating the South Coast sewage overflows.
Cherry said that in addition to potentially averting the sewage overflows, the proposal could have saved Government in excess of $520 million over the next 20 years.
This would have been done, he added, by reducing imports of fossil fuels and chemical fertilisers and by creating 133 direct new jobs. (AD)
