KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) on Monday said it is alarmed by the inability of the authorities to “swiftly” extinguish the fire at the Riverton City dump, as well as the “unconscionable silence” from the Minister of Health, the Chief Medical Officer and the Central Board of Health.
JET said in a release that it is still receiving daily complaints from the public and pleas for help.
“We have been told of an increased use of health facilities, people being unable to sleep or enjoy their property even while indoors, and complaints being received from ships coming into Kingston who are affected by poor visibility caused by the smoke,” said JET.
The Trust said it is also “concerned that there is no daily information being issued on air quality testing – the public does not know if testing is being done, and if it is being done, what the results are”.
“The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has allowed the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to continue to operate Riverton and other dumps in totally unsatisfactory conditions over decades,” JET said in its statement Monday.
“We know that NEPA issued an enforcement notice with regard to this latest fire, but the smoke continues to compromise the air for thousands of people.
“We know that millions of dollars have been spent on this latest fire; money that is not going to be available for proper waste management in future,” JET said.
“It is an open secret that the fire is often set by people who have access to the unsecured dump and may well be some of the same people who benefit from the funds which then must be spent to extinguish it.”
JET CEO Diana McCaulay, in relation to an announcement by the NSWMA that the dump fire was 95 per cent out, insisted that government agencies should stop “sugar coating” the dump fire situation as it is a “public health emergency”.
Meanwhile the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition (JCSC) is calling on the three responsible ministers of Health, Local Government, and Land, Water, Environment and Climate Change to take urgent action “not only to extinguish the fire, but to take long outstanding measures to improve solid waste handling in Jamaica and to hold government officials accountable for their portfolios”.
“Riverton burns, people are sickened, no one is ever held responsible,” said JET’s CEO.
