The Tribune

By LARRY SMITH

The Harrold Road dump has been spewing toxic fumes and smoke into the clear skies over New Providence for weeks.

Social media conversations have become angrier as schools near the dump were forced to close and residents – particularly infants and the aged – suffered respiratory illness from the toxic garbage fire.

A Facebook page called Raising Awareness about the Bahamas Landfill (RABL) has launched an effort to force some public accountability for the landfill. RABL is conducting air quality tests, but its options are limited in the face of outright government indifference.

The last time the dump exploded was in March 2014. The government’s response then was to send in fire trucks and suggest that those affected by the pollution shut their windows and visit a clinic.

His job done, Environment Minister Ken Dorsett then jetted off to a regional conference on sustainable development at a Mexican resort.

Meanwhile, back in Nassau the dump continued to burn – not for the first time, and likely not for the last. In fact, the dump catches fire almost every year in the dry season, releasing cancer-causing chemicals and particles into the air. It has been doing this for decades.

This time, a private company is taking at least some of the heat off the government’s back. Renew Bahamas finalised a still-secret contract with the government last summer to recycle cardboard, plastics and metals. Renew says they are not responsible for remediating the landfill – which is by any measure an ecological disaster – and will only deal with surface fires.

The company’s principals include a Bahamian named Een Colebrooke and a South African venture capitalist named Gerhard Beukes, with experience in valuations, restructuring and offshore funds. He was a client of “Brave” Davis as the previous owner of the British Colonial Hilton. There was no Request for Proposals issued by the government for the landfill contract.

Renew was formed in July 2012 – right after the election – and registered by Davis & Co. By November 2013, the government was finalising the terms of a five-year contract, and the company took over the landfill last summer. However, its contract has not been made public – even though it is for public goods.

The contract went to Renew despite a comprehensive proposal from a coalition of Bahamian waste management companies led by Waste-Not Ltd’s Ginny McKinney, who has been leading a multi-year campaign to fix the dump once and for all.

“Our proposal was for shipping both ferrous and non-ferrous metals to recyclers abroad; diverting green waste to be composted locally for soil production; and glass for artistic ventures and for road or block aggregate,” McKinney said.

“Paper, plastic, tyres and treated wood would be used as fuel for a waste-to-energy plant, the proceeds from which would help to finance our integrated waste management plan. This plan included remediation of the current problems of fires, leachate control, stabilising the large mountain of waste which looms over the nearest residential community, and methane extraction. In short, we were offering a complete solution – not a partial one. As a Bahamian, I want to see a final and complete remedy to this recurring situation, because repeating the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is madness. We need to stop the madness.”

• What do you think? Send comments to lsmith@tribunemedia.net or visit www.bahamapundit.com.