Bags of dead chickens, abandoned cars and heaps of old appliances have been turning up along rural roads in St Philip, prompting the area MP to call for an end to the practice and warning that property owners — not the authorities — are often left to foot the bill for clearing illegally dumped waste.
St Philip North MP Sonia Browne described the indiscriminate dumping of rubbish along Mapps as a frustrating situation that has been ongoing for too long, and called on those responsible to stop.
Her appeal follows an incident in which residents of Bayleys Plantation Road were left with a bag of dead chickens along the path leading to their homes and farms, as well as several old appliances and other rubbish dumped along the Mapps Road.
Dr Browne told Barbados TODAY that the situation reported by farmer Alvin Wilson is one she is all too familiar with, noting that the isolated nature of the area makes enforcement difficult.
“I think everybody who lives in the area knows about it. I believe I have brought it up more than once in Parliament when the discussion was on illegal dumping. In terms of what to do about it, it seems that like these things happen in the night because I will wake up sometimes and travel and see a new appliance is an embarrassment because tourists still travel in this area, not that we want to fix the environment for tourists, but that’s a big part of it.”
She explained that many of the affected areas are privately owned, placing an added burden on landowners to clear illegally dumped waste.
“It’s up to the property owner, which is sad to actually get those things cleared, and that is money that they have to spend. At one point, a whole car was dumped in the area, and it stayed there for months, and I believe the owner of the property had to put some money into moving it.”
Dr Browne said that while measures such as surveillance could help, practical challenges remain, particularly given the location.
“I can’t really offer much of a solution other than if we could get cameras in the area and even the setup for the cameras may be difficult logistically. I don’t know that we put up lights where people don’t live. I’ve never really seen it in Barbados. I don’t know if it will help if they dump at night because most people would be sleeping at those times.”
Despite the challenges, she urged those responsible to change their behaviour and use the proper channels for disposal.
The MP called on those doing the dumping “to stop it really and then use the proper authorities to dump their waste.”
She pointed to services offered by the Sanitation Service Authority as a lawful alternative.
“What I would do is encourage people, the sanitation service has a facility. I know the cost is minimal in my view, where you can actually call them to pick up these things, these old fridges and appliances and so on.”
Dr Browne also raised concerns about the environmental and public health risks associated with the practice:
“This is why I said earlier that they will collect water and mosquitoes will be an issue eventually and rodents, never mind rodents, But I am not sure how sanitation Services Authority would deal with this because sometimes they, they actually walk deep into the fields, so you only get to see how far it goes when somebody burns the grass.”
Under the Health Services (Collection and Disposal of Refuse) Regulations, 1975, it is illegal to dump waste anywhere that is not an approved disposal site. This includes appliances such as fridges, stoves and mattresses, household rubbish, construction debris, and dead animals.
The Health Services Act specifically states: “No person shall throw, deposit, let out or place any filth, night soil, dead animal or other offensive matter or thing of any kind on or about — (a) the premises of another person; (b) any water-course or beach; (c) any public street, road, lane, alley, passage or thoroughfare; (d) any other premises or place where such filth, night soil, dead animal or other offensive matter may create a nuisance or be detrimental to the public health.”
Under the Sanitation Service Authority Act, the SSA is responsible for the collection and disposal of household rubbish, bulk waste, and the clearing of illegal dumping sites.
In cases involving dead animals, the SSA may be contacted for removal in public spaces. However, where dumping occurs on private property, the property owner is typically responsible for arranging disposal.
Dr Browne also called for greater public awareness of proper waste disposal options:
“I don’t know if we can put measures in place to advertise these services, and they’re advertised to some extent, but if they put more effort into advertising the services of the sanitation service to get rid of some of these things.”
(LG)
