Close the GT dump
Posted on Tue, 05/08/2012 - 16:35 in Viewpoint
The ecologically detrimental, aesthetically offensive, air and water contaminating George Town landfill is not just a George Town or Dart issue but it is a major threat to the quality of life to the entire Cayman Islands. The site is not lined and the drain-offs are harmful to our health and the eco system and will have a long-term negative impact on our tourism product.
A sensible and sustainable solution is urgently needed in the interest of the future attractiveness of this country as a place to live, work and visit. The decades long debate, research and political rhetoric has to date failed to advance us any closer towards a solution. MLA for East End, Arden McLean, has repeatedly indicted the People Progressive Movement (of which he was the Minister with responsibility for the landfill) for its failure to deliver to the people of this country a workable solution to the George Town Landfill crisis.
With a national consensus and mandate on the urgency for a remedy to the dump, the United Democratic Party (UDP) has proposed closing the George Town landfill, remedial development of the existing site, and the development of a state-of-art refuse disposal site in the district of Bodden Town with no direct cost to the Cayman Islands coffers. The new site would be properly lined and embrace best practices of waste management and would not resemble the current site that was not afforded the conventional wisdom of current practices.
As a resident of George Town who drives past the landfill every day and witnesses the stench and unsightliness first hand, I welcome this proposal. However, I am amazed that the long awaited solution is being resisted by a segment of the society, including Mr Arden Mclean and the PPM. This resistance is obviously politically charged because there is no obvious intellectual rationale against having the commonly accepted threat of the George Town Landfill being remediated and the processing of the national refuse being moved to a less travelled and less densely inhabited area of the island. In the absence of logic in an argument, politics is normally endemic.
While all people should have a right to object and state their opinions on matters of national importance, it is wrong for the objectors of the new waste management facility to embark on a campaign of misinformation and scare-mongering in order to make their case. At a public meeting in Savannah, on Monday May 8, several preposterous statements were made by the PPM representative for Bodden Town and the leader of the Coalition to Keep Bodden Town Dump Free, where they claimed that people as far as 10 miles away from the new facility would get cancer and a litany of diseases that even they could not pronounce.
If their claims had any validity, the hospital would be packed with the hundreds of George Towners who have lived all of their lives within a three (3) mile radius of the current dump - and clearly it is not! Furthermore, by implication, these objectors are saying that it is perfectly acceptable for the residents of George Town and the entire western end of the Island to be adversely affected by the mismanaged waste for the entire island, if its effect (as they say) is felt as far as 10 miles away.
No individual is desirous of having the landfill in his or her “backyard” but it must be placed somewhere. George Town, the country’s capital, has hosted the garbage dump and its residents have suffered for decades. It is foolhardy to perpetually compound the problem by adding more garbage to it. It must be relocated, with all modern waste management expertise employed at the new site.
Accordingly, the residents of Bodden Town will not have a similar experience as those of George Town who suffered from aesthetic, air, water and noise pollution.
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IF Mt. Trashmore can be
IF Mt. Trashmore can be remediated, then why not do so? Why promise to remediate it AND then move it? There are too many variables hinged upon it being moved -- trading this property for that property.
At the very least, separate the issues. You want to know if Dart Corp. has Cayman Islands best interests at heart? Fine. Treat all the issues separately, and watch the proposals fade. Many places in the U.S. that capped landfills and waste management facilities later on had negative consequences -- often in the sub-cap methane buildup and ground/water remediation (RCRA and SARA superfund clean-ups in some cases).
If we have the technology and intelligence to build a "state-of-the-art waste management facility", then why in the name of God would we then move it to a residential area??? If we have the maturity to fix it, then fix it and quit using the dump as a political playing piece.
Can anyone enlighten me as to
Can anyone enlighten me as to what the land size is at the current land fill and what is the size of the proposed land fill in Bodden Town? I am just interested to know because I do believe the dump needs to be left right where it is, close to where the majority of Cayman's waste is generated and I believe it CAN be done. Part of the land fill can be closed to facitlitate the construction of the new and improved waste management facility while the other part of the dump operates as usual. If land is needed maybe Dart could donate back some of his next door. The problem is that the sole reason for moving the dump anywhere else is only to appease the Dart family who own the property next to it which they knowingly purchased and they are the ones putting pressure for it to move. I fail to see how moving the dump can improve anything for anyone other than the Dart family and those they pay off to get what they want . Anyone with any other beliefs needs to come out from under the rock and see what is really going on here. Fix the problems of the dump at the dump ...don't take the problems and dump them in Bodden Town.....signed......a George Towner
I don't care who it is that
I don't care who it is that wants to move the landfill, it needs to be moved to a much less populated area for the benefits of all citizens (I mean all as the new landfill should/would be created from day 1 with up-to-date methods to severly limit pollution in all respects and other practical improvements). If anything, Dart is doing us all a favor and if you can't see that then you have blinders on. It is in the middle of the most densely populated area of the island and one of the first areas that visitors see... it seems so cut and dry easy to make this decision. Now what happens to that area after it has been moved is another story. There are countless examples from North America where old landfill sites have been turned into incredible nature areas with actual green-space which this island sorely lacks.
And I assume you are aware
And I assume you are aware that most other countries would not dream of locating a dump (or "state of the art waste management facility" to a wetland area, because there is no guarantee that a liner will do its job on an ongoing basis?
The current site of the dump
The current site of the dump is in a wetland area! I'm not advocating environmental damage at all. Obviously move it somewhere that makes sense in all aspects but move it all the same.
Anon 13:47 I would encourage
Anon 13:47 I would encourage you to look at the zoning immediately around the proposed facility in Bodden Town. To your surprise you may realise the entire area is zoned residential. Noting the fast growth rate of the Bodden Town district it is conceivable that in a few short years there will be many residences in this area.
This is in contrast to the current location of our dump which is zoned commercial/heavy industrial. There are very few homes at all in the immediate vicinity. Remediation on the current site with an efficient sorting, recycling and incineration component appears to be the best option especially when taking the zoning and small number of area residences into account.
Anon 17:32 You could be
Anon 17:32
You could be right, but you must also explain that Mr. Dart owns 400 acreas ajoining the said property.
And within that entire residential zoning, is the scott's quarry, and not too far is the Bodden's quarry, and not too far is the Saresh quarry. Now can you explain why these quarries were given the green light to blast dynamites in your back yards, and not one Bodden Towner said a word in regards to them opperating these quarrys in a residential zone. You bunch of hypocrites!
There are two nasty evils here. One is nasty politics. the other is Mr.Darts money.
Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's house, thy neighbour's wife, his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's.
I hear so much talk of what Dart will make from these deals, so what ? its his money he is putting on the line for you Caymanians. for over 30 years we have practically gave away 4 miles of our public beach property to a particular developer, whom in return made billions, I have never as much notice even one scholarship given by this person. I have never heard of one Caymanian objecting to his making his billions.
Mr Dart, as a Caymanian, Im ashamed of the ignorance of some of my peopl. On my behalf... please accept my apology for these hypocrites.
Yeah...Im ashamed of the
Yeah...Im ashamed of the ignorance of some of my peopl, too.
I think you better check your
I think you better check your facts. Plenty BTers complained, myself included, but as usual nobody could give a flying truck.
"...with an efficient
"...with an efficient sorting, recycling and incineration component..."
"efficient"??? "efficient"??? "efficient"???
A public service in Cayman run efficiently?????
Good luck.
The program that you suggest
The program that you suggest for the current GT landfill came with a $100,000,000.00CI + price tag. How do you suggest we pay for this?
When the government put the
When the government put the landfill/ new state of the art waste management facility out to tender - 18 months / 2 years ago? - numerous bids were recieved from very reputable companies to clean up the current site and create the new facility on site and run it efficiently - at NO cost to the government.
And I have a pet unicorn I
And I have a pet unicorn I will sell you for a cool $750,000.
dart is offering a solution
dart is offering a solution that cig cannot afford to they by themselves.....
typical cayman response...... talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.......
this is the chance of generation to solve this problem but nimbysim will unfortunatly win out......
The only person Dart is
The only person Dart is offering a solution to is himself and his own wealth. He wants the dump moved because of the dramatic increase in value and profits he will make as a result of having the land next to Camana Bay dump free, paired with the closure of the West Bay Road to make room for his grand hotel and tourists - $$$$$$ - that's all he's in it for - not for you, not for me, and certainly not ForCayman.
So you are saying that we
So you are saying that we shun all businessmen who are in business to make a profit? Gee...so the Fosters, Kirkconnell's, Merren's, and other successful businessmen should be out of the picture, huh?
Dart is taking advantage 0f
Dart is taking advantage 0f the poor economy to buy more and more of Cayman. This is not in our best interest long term. We should not sacrifice the future for a bit of instant gratification today.
Anon 18:39 Do you know that
Anon 18:39
Do you know that many great cities were build and developed by one multi millionair. what are you really scared of?
Mr Dart is not taking anything from you or myself. He is an invester, nothing more nothing less. if you can't understand this then something is difinately wrong with people like you.
Don't you ever take the time out to read and educate yourself. Are you one of those grape tree philosopher that talk shit all day and judge people.
The approach to the landfill
The approach to the landfill must be comprehensive. We must change our lifestyle to reuse more, and implement a true recycling program. With the quantity of garbage being redused the impact on where ever the landfill is situated is not as has been the case of the current landfill on George Towm.
No one should be engaged in the arguement that the landfill should remain in the current location. In the most populated area of the island, at the entrance of our 7 mile beach, near the airport, visual from the crusie ships and a nuisance to the financial community as their views from the 5th floor offices are clear caribbean sea on one side and mount Trashmour on the other.
It must move from the current site and if the proper studies have been done and engineering measures employed to ensure minimal impact on the Bodden Town society, then lets get it moved and stop talking about it.
Why move it? the problem can
Why move it? the problem can be solved right where it is however no one is interested in that because it makes the most sense and would upset the plans of one developer. While i am not from Town it is unsightly and something has to be done but based on past proposals i am confident that we can find a solution for it at it's current location.
Here is a question, if the new site in bodden town will contain no waste and in fact recycle most of the garbage and separate out the organic material like what is being said then why can't that be done at the current facility?
Why move it? Maybe because
Why move it? Maybe because the current landfill site is in the middle of the most populated and most visited part of the island... do you really need more of a reason than that?
All the more reason why it
All the more reason why it should stay where it is then, instead of transporting trash from the most populated and most visited part of the island all the way East to the old capital, and then transporting everything that gets recycled all the way back to GT to be shipped out.
Bermuda use to have their
Bermuda use to have their dump in the back of the city, but thats now used ONLY for horticulture waste. They build an incinerator over ten years ago and now burn their trash and sell the energy to the local power company.
So where do Bermuda have
So where do Bermuda have their refuse processing centre?
IIRC It's at the back of town
IIRC It's at the back of town in Hamilton, not far from the Governor's residence - and I don't ever remember it smelling like the GT dump
Bermuda- the 9th highest
Bermuda- the 9th highest population density on the planet (3175 person per square mile)
The Cayman Islands - 58th on the list (549 persons per square mile)
What choice do they have?
Try again.
So Bermuda has thei dump in
So Bermuda has thei dump in the middle of the mot populated parish, and it does not smell (that is not my experience, but it smells better than our dump) so why cant we have the same thing done at the GT land fill?
No matter the need (it will
No matter the need (it will grow every day until..) no matter the consequences(even the most fool fool can see it) there is not the leadership to get er done on Cayman now and for the foreseable future. The culture here is all talk and no walk. Can't fight it to win. Its too big. Small changes are big victories here. Lots to do but no responsibility to do any of it. Cayman is a country where time is standing still which is part of its charm but there is a price must be paid in da end. For now be happy they are still picking up the trash.
So basically the Bodden
So basically the Bodden Towners don't care if the George Towners and their children get cancer from this dump as long as it is not them and theirs. As far as I am concerned Bodden Town is already a dump. We the people of GT have been taking your trash for years with NO COMPLAINTS. It is time for you to reciprocate.
Just move it already and stop the shit.
My health and that of my children is of equal value to you and yours so try to find a better argument than that about 'unnah children" to hell with the children of Bodden Town since that is obviously how the Bodden Towners feel about the children of George Town. Remember GT and West Bay Rd. are the money makers in these islands not BT and the dump has to go!!!!
Is this the manifesto of
Is this the manifesto of another want to be politician using the PINP (party in power) strategy?
I am 100% certain that
I am 100% certain that Lorna's manifesto will be an impressive document when it is revealed. A lot of people are depending on this. Lorna is a champion for the people. You might know but there are many of us who have been helped by this lady while the politicians are simply spewing hot air. Just wait and see.
So you admit she is only
So you admit she is only doing this to get votes then?
A wise man once said that
A wise man once said that only a fool or a dead person can"t change their mind. Which one are you? Look at the evidence; not at who you may think is 'pushing' for the project. Ask yourself _ is there a problem with the current waste situation in Grand Cayman? Well, is there? Now, what are the proposed solutions and what are the chances of them moving forward? Will we/the Island be better off if we do nothing?
I do not believe I really
I do not believe I really need to say too much about this post other than:
1) Last name = BUSH = Heavy Coolaid drinker
2) Never trust someone who says "I am not for....." but then proceeds to preech on their behalf without one negative comment about them. Basically if you don't get it Lorna "You are".
3) Anyone who sees the dump issue as good to move to BT is basically brain dead or getting something in the deal.
The GT dump needs to be resolved wjere it is. No lining is going to prevent the material from seeping into the ground. In fact EVERYTHING they are proposing for the BT Landfill can be done at the GT site. Why would you move your dump away from its major source.
So in short lets sum this up:
1) No gains achieved by move as everything that can be done in BT can be done in GT.
2) Dumps greatest source comes from GT to WB. Moving it to BT would be moving it away from its source causing:
a) Increased cost to maintain as trucks would have to travel greatly increased distances to the DUMP.
b) Increased cost of infrastructure as increased trucking would have an adverse affect on roads to outer districts.
c) Increased RISK of accidents as trucks streaming up and down the BT roads thru heavy residentual neighbourhoods.
d) Increased RISK in DAMAGE to the environment as area designated is a sanctuary and delicate eco-system.
3) No real proof of change. Dart is turning the LANDFILL or DUMP if you will over to the same people who messed up the previous one. What stops them from doing it again?
XXXX
There are a lot of words to
There are a lot of words to this post and a number of subsections but the bottom line is that this person has no clue what is going on. Attacking the messenger is not the answer to a national problem. The GT site is not sustainable for the countrys needs into the future. What part of that don't you understand?
Recycling is the answer toxins will no be placed into the new site. Figure it out. Demand manitory recycling. Ask anyone in the USA or Canada how to recycle if you don't know. Paint, oil, toxins, batteries are not placed in the landfill. Glass, paper, plastic and aluminum are recycled. Do you follow any of this?
Fine, then recap, remediate
Fine, then recap, remediate and do your recycling in the current location. Moving the dump is insanity.
Who is Lorna Bush? What is
Who is Lorna Bush? What is her profession? Is she related to McKeeva Bush? How? And wasn't she the one I saw beside Joe Imparato in East End when they had a public meeting on the East End Sea Port? XXXX
She's from the Brac. I don't
She's from the Brac. I don't think she's related to Bush cause that's her married name. As far as I know, she's just a supporter.
I think that was Pilar Bush
I think that was Pilar Bush you saw in EE. She also had dealings with the Premier that involved some land that the Auditor General found was sold for 3 times its value for a cruise ship port in WB.
Yes, just like all the other
Yes, just like all the other vastly over-valued land that successive governments for the last four decades have bought from their supporters to build roads, schools, a prison etc etc
Really? Can you give some
Really? Can you give some examples and govts? The last I heard people were complaining that they had not yet been paid for land which was compulsorily acquired for roads under the PPM govt. and all of it was being done according to standard govt. valuations. I am not aware of the govt. having purchased other property for 3 times the value but may be you can enlighten us. Don't tar everyone with the same brush.
And which great PPM supporter
And which great PPM supporter purchased the old Red Bay Plaza where Durty Reid's was - just in time to seel it back to his Government (PPM) at a highly inflated rate? Then it was bulldozed for the East-West arterial!! It goes around; it comes around; heck I'm feeling dizzy.
Give us details, please. What
Give us details, please. What was the govt. valuation versus the price paid?
Again, everyone focusing on
Again, everyone focusing on politics, personalities. Focus on the problem, the George Town "landfill" is a third world dump - no liner, uncontrolled fires, etc. The problem has been growing and festering for years while government dithered until they were broke leaving them few options. So what now? Does Government have money to remediate and build a state of art facility at the George Town site as one commenter recommends? Is there another offer being put forward by the private sector to fund a transition to first world waste management? What is the likelihood of Government being able to fund a solution in the next three five or ten years? What is the likelihood of another from the private sector offering to fund a solution? There is an offer on the table - consider it based on its merit and against the other option: continue doing things the same way and live with the consequences. Look at the offer (not who you think is pushing it or benefiting from it), consider the options, make a decision and move on.
A most sensible comment.
A most sensible comment. Please stop the UDP-PPM rhetoric and for once, think about what is good for the country as a whole. 10 years from now, we will still be in this mess because of the small mindness of the PPM and their supporters.
First you say stop the
First you say stop the UDP-PPM rhetoric then you go on to spout UDP rhetoric about small-mindedness of PPM supporters.
Sorry, can't help it; it's
Sorry, can't help it; it's just a sorrowful fact. No go throw some red, white and blue paint all over yourselves!
No doubt the PPM supporters
No doubt the PPM supporters will say the same thing about what you call their rhetoric.
There were offers on the
There were offers on the table in the respondents to the RFP, of which Dart was not the winning bidder, for a reason - because this was not the solution that government had requested. These respondents were being asked to provide the facility at no cost to government as a private solution.
There were MANY offers put
There were MANY offers put foward by the private sector - almost a dozen i believe - to remedy the landfill on site and convert it to a profitable state of the art waste management facilty - which it NEVER will become under the proposed Dart solution which will only move the dump to BT then put in back in the hands of the government to run- which will mean all corners will be cut and it will never be efficient let alone profitable.
Put it back out to tender!!!
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