The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

A Cabinet minister yesterday pledged to develop “more resilient communities” and move towards “carbon neutrality” as part of Hurricane Dorian rebuilding and reconstruction efforts.

Romauld Ferreira, pictured, minister of the environment and housing, told the annual Accountants Week conference that his ministry is 75 percent complete with a geographical and spatial data “mapping” study of The Bahamas that will provide information “right down to the house”.

He explained that gathering spatial data is critical to building “climate resilience”, as it helps to guide where persons decide to build and determines land elevation impacting every house and lot.

“Immediately after the passage of Hurricane Dorian, the Ministry of the Environment and Housing declared the country to be in the midst of a climate change emergency,” Mr Ferreira said. “The prime minister, in his last address to the United Nations, said virtually the same thing in that ‘climate change is the greatest existential threat to human existence’.

“Some of the other things we are doing towards achieving carbon neutrality is that we have also installed approximately one megawatt (MW) of renewable energy with grid-tie at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium. We put over 450 kilowatts on Anatol Rodgers [High School], and the other one will be at TG Glover with grant funding from the United Arab Emirates.”

Minister Ferreira also highlighted the proposed Environmental Planning and Protection Bill, and other legislation such as the Ministry of The Environment Bill 2019, the Bahamas National Trust Amendment Bill 2019 and the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund Bill as examples of the reforms that the government plans to introduce.

Responding to concerns that not all environmental groups have been included in consultations on the environmental Bills, he said: “The environmental groups have been consulted, and are being consulted, on these pieces of legislation, and the ministry and government remain open to any and all suggestions from these groups.”

Mr Ferreira said the government’s greatest concern upon coming to office was the state of the New Providence landfill, and the environmental and health risks stemming from the frequent outbreak of fires at the site.

“We handed that over to private management, and that means that we now control the amount of methane gas that is now released into the atmosphere,” he added. “We also stopped the leak of oil coming down from the rock face at Clifton Pier by redeveloping the pier, and now it has oil recovery systems.”

Minister Ferreira expressed satisfaction with the progress being made by New Providence Ecology Park, the landfill’s new manager, as there was now access to roadways at the tipping points. The compaction and coverage of waste had also improved.

“The beauty of it is is that the tyres that were at the landfill, the company shredded them to use as the ‘road base’. So they are reusing the materials at the landfill to make the situation better. We are consistently monitoring the situation and we have no concerns about the contractor moving forward at this time,” he added.