Published 17th August 2020
Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
Nearly 100 persons turned out on Saturday August 15 and participated in the ‘Keeping COVID out by cleaning up’ Community Clean Up campaign, spearheaded by the St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council, with the main areas of focus being the Basseterre Valley Aquifer and the area around the fisheries complex in Basseterre.
Persons from the St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council, Ministry of Tourism, Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC), Department of Environment, Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP), Public Works Department, Parks and Beaches, and Volunteer Corps of the Department of Youth Empowerment gathered shortly after 6:30 am outside the Christian Life Assembly Christian Centre. They set off at 7:00 am going to the Basseterre Valley Aquifer.
“Through our Plastic Free July campaign, we decided to go beyond Plastic Free July, and we met with Solid Waste because we have been hearing Solid Waste talking about challenges in terms of indiscriminate dumping in various communities around the island,” said Mrs Diannille Taylor-Williams, Assistant Permanent Secretary Ministry of Tourism, and Chair of St. Kitts Sustainable Destination Council.
According to Mrs Taylor-Williams, after several meetings with all the stakeholders, problem areas where people do illegal dumping were identified and the aquifer was classified as being important to everyone, as it is the major source of drinking water for a majority of the people on St. Kitts. The result of it is that it was earmarked as the first area of attention.
All participants were provided with hand gloves, and those who did not have face masks received them as they went into the aquifer. They were to collect mostly plastics and bottles and were provided with collection bags which had been provided by the Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP). 120 bags had been provided by STEP, but according to the Assistant Permanent Secretary, they had to source more bags to add up to what they had.
Loads of bags were filled up and government pick-ups and trucks transported them to dumpsters that had been provided. From the aquifer the group moved on to the Kim Collins Highway, to the Central Bank roundabout and then joined the Bay Road on the Fisheries complex area on the seaside where a new illegal dumping ground was found.
“We depend on the sea for transportation,” said Mrs Taylor-Williams. “We also depend on it for livelihoods, and so we said that should be an area that is prioritized and we made the decision our first clean up would be in this area, and then move to other areas, starting next week as a matter of fact, and we are inviting everybody.”
The clean-up next week will focus on the Fort Thomas Hotel area which is recognized as one of the first hotels on the island. It is a historical site because there was a fort there, and has so much significance to many people as it was once the home of the Music Festival, noted Mrs Taylor-Williams, who lamented that people have made it into a dump.
The clean-up team included the Area Parliamentary Representative for St. Christopher One, the Hon Dr Geoffrey Hanley, who said it was a bit disheartening with what he saw with how persons are disposing off their garbage, and noted that he has started to work on developing a campaign not only for the constituency but one that will spread right around the island about the importance of people disposing of their garbage and trying to preserve all of the green spaces.
“When you can see refrigerators, beds, washing machines – I mean these are not dumped there by accident, and these are things that we must ensure that we discontinue,” said Dr Hanley. “Even if it means enforcing the law that persons are penalized for these kinds of practices, these are things that I will personally support because we must do whatever we have to do to save our environment and at the end of it we only have St. Kitts and Nevis.”
