Old appliances, carcasses, animal parts, fish guts, fowl manure, old cooking oil, tree trimmings, coconut shells, old pieces of metal and concrete rubble – all these may be found on the land leading to the entrance of the Barbados Water Authority’s (BWA) main pumping station at The Belle, says supervisor Andy Lynch.
And the perpetrators of this illegal and disgusting dumping, BWA workers have complained, include people from Government entities and commercial companies, and some private residents. It boggles the mind that anyone could be so irresponsible as to treat with such disdain this watercourse upon which stands a pumping station that services more than half of Barbados.
Clearly, if the powers that be can bring no swift end to this dangerously unhealthy practice of illegal dumping at The Belle, the high-quality water of which we have always boasted to the world could be at risk.
But then why should the authorities not be able to? According to a BWA worker, there was a meeting of the Barbados Water Authority with “personnel from a number of Government and private entities about their dumping”. Surely, there must have been some commitment from the offenders to stop the dirty habit.
Admittedly, the problem is a hard one to police; but we may just have a list of former perpetrators eager to keep their names clean and as a consequence might become able support on the authorities’ side.
Yes, the illegal dumping in The?Belle’s watercourse will in due course cause pollution, and erosion to boot. But the risk is not confined to the contamination of our water. There are others.
Rodents and other vermin attracted to such a dumping site pose more immediate health risks, and such a place is an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, who will find a haven in stagnant water trapped in discarded metal material.
And, of course, dumped stuff of the variety highlighted by BWA staff may be subject to spontaneous combustion. Fire is always a danger.
Also, illegal waste dumps will block culverts and other drainage systems, increasing flooding from improper storm water run-off.
We are not told what will be required specifically of the dumpers at The Belle, with whom the BWA reportedly met, but we are not unaware that the removal of their discarded materials could be a heavy cost – which should not be borne alone by the kindness of the Government.
Part of the rehabilitation of illegal dumpers must be that they participate in the clean-up of the areas they have defiled, and/or satisfy the cost of bringing the spot of besmirchment back into a place of cleanliness and wholesomeness.
Defilement of our habitat is not an option!
