The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

AFTER more than three weeks of battling toxic smoke in the aftermath of the New Providence Landfill fire, Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett revealed yesterday that the massive blaze earlier this month was the result of thieves burning wires in search of copper.

Mr Dorsett told The Tribune yesterday that while a formal assessment has not been completed, government officials discovered wires in the area where they believe the fire began, behind Epic Battery on Fire Trail Road.

He said based on what was found in that area, officials believe the culprits were burning the wires to extract copper. However, he said officials still have no leads on who was responsible for starting the blaze.

"There hasn't been a formal assessment but the team went in the area where we know that the fire started," he told The Tribune. "They found wires basically from what we could see in the area where it started.

"The guys must have been burning wire to get to the copper and so all the remnants of what was burnt was right behind Epic (Battery) and so clearly it was human intervention and from there it then jumped onto the forest and into the landfill.

"Whatever they were doing it got out of control very quickly and so (we believe) scavengers on the site is who got the wire," he said.

Mr Dorsett also addressed concerns about a temporary dump site on Spikenard Road, which the government set up for debris collection in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. He stressed that this site is not expected to collect trash indefinitely, saying it was a short-term solution.

A resident of the area contacted The Tribune yesterday expressing concern about the proliferation of dumping there. Some residents are also worried that the Spikenard Road site will attract scavengers and arsonists, leading to a fire in their area.

However Mr Dorsett told The Tribune that the New Providence Landfill is not ready to accept construction and demolition waste, which are being placed at the Spikenard Road site in the interim.

Meanwhile, in a video posted to the Raising Awareness about the Bahamas Landfill Facebook page, Mr Dorsett said yesterday that Bahamians need to direct the same anger they have for politicians over matters like these to the perpetrators of illegal fires.

"At some point in time as a country, as a community, the vitriol that we attach to politicians has to be attached to those who set the fires," the Southern Shores MP said. "The same kind of passion that we feel about wanting to correct problems, we need to put that same passion behind ensuring that the culprits who ultimately set the fires are held accountable for what they do because it is an illegal offence to do this.

"Sadly there is no evidence to determine who it was - at least the police haven't been able to find that out. But setting these fires is a criminal offence."

Jubilee Gardens residents were evacuated from their homes after a massive blaze broke out on March 5 at the city dump, sending plumes of choking smoke billowing over parts of New Providence.

As a result emergency services tackled the fire from early afternoon and the Flamingo Gardens clinic had to stay open until 9pm to help residents suffering from smoke inhalation as the Princess Margaret Hospital Accident and Emergency Department was said to be "overflowing".

On March 13, Mr Dorsett said GelTech Solutions, a company that specialises in fighting fires while protecting the environment, had been contracted by the government to assist in extinguishing the massive blaze. He told The Tribune the US-based company, along with Fletcher Air, began dropping FireIce - a firefighting gel - on the sites at the landfill the day before that were either too dangerous or unreachable by firefighters.

More than 1,200 people received some form of assistance from the Ministry of Social Services in the wake of fire at the city dump.

Smoke continues to affect residents in surrounding areas.