Government today paused all operations at the B’s Recycling Centre in Cane Garden, St Thomas because it again poses a significant fire hazard.
The facility had been the scene of a large fire in August of 2019, and an inspection last month discovered that once again it was filled to capacity, had a massive vector control problem and a high level of combustible materials.
In a brief press conference earlier today, Minister of Home Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams revealed that owner and operator of B’s, businessman Paul Bynoe had agreed to immediately implement a short-term mitigation programme to reduce the probability of a serious fire starting and putting nearby residents at risk.
Chief Fire Officer, Errol Maynard said Government had already started to move large pieces of metal from the Cane Garden site across to Bagatelle, also in St Thomas, where it would be compacted and buried.
In the meantime, Bynoe has agreed to halt the acceptance of all materials to B’s Recycling, so that metal can be divided into five piles which would allow personnel of the Barbados Fire Service to carry out a rescue or fight a fire should one occur.
Abrahams said a fire was still a real possibility, since there were combustibles like hydrocarbons present at the site. A further environmental assessment of the facility will be conducted after the 21 days in which Bynoe has to clean up.
Government has so far removed 554 metric tonnes of material from the site so as to decrease the probability of a serious fire, and 264 old cars have also been identified for shipment overseas. (BA)
