The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A FIRE which started at a scrap metal site on Monday night has been contained, police said.

Firefighters were monitoring the massive blaze, which erupted near the New Providence Ecology Park, yesterday.

“The firefighters are continuing to monitor the fire. It has been contained. It’s just a matter of it extinguishing itself over time and the use of (equipment) they are fighting it with,” Assistant Superintendent of Police Audley Peters said.

The blaze started at Manpower Scrapmetal, a private business that is not associated with the New Providence Ecology Park.

Fires such as these have been a vexing issue for nearby community Jubilee Gardens in the past. Residents had to be evacuated after a blaze broke out at the city dump back in March 2017.

Then in February 2018, more than 100 of the area’s residents filed a class action lawsuit against the government and Renew Bahamas for causing them to be “sickened to near death” as a result of the “toxic and hazardous” emissions caused by the recurring fires at the New Providence Landfill.

Officials repeatedly stressed yesterday that Monday's fire had not occurred at the landfill.

The Minnis administration signed an agreement in 2019 with the New Providence Ecology Park (NPEP) for the $45 million redevelopment of the city dump. The government has said this is a major accomplishment and noted the turnaround of the site and lack of recent fires.

When The Tribune canvassed Jubilee Gardens yesterday, one resident said when he saw the smoke on Monday night, his first reaction was “not again”.

“I feel like this is lousy. They should’ve fixed this long time,” the man, who has lived in the area for about 12 years, said.

He said he thought massive fires in the area were a thing of the past and lamented previous occasions when he had to sleep in a hotel or by relatives due to heavy smoke.

“We dealt with the smoke thing about twice before. . .and I feel like by now it should’ve been resolved. I can’t move out again to go find somewhere to sleep because this is where I live.”