Fly tipping plagues Bodden Town
Illegal Dumping in Bodden Town (Photo by Kerry Tibbetts)
(CNS): A local subdivision in the district of Bodden Town is quickly turning into a new dump and residents say that while government may have committed to keeping the landfill out of their community, it is almost happening by default. Kerry Tibbetts, one of a number of residents who have raised concerns about the problem, has complained to her MLAs and documented the dumping, claiming that she has seen some of the culprits at work.
Piles of household and industrial waste, rotting containers and rusting machinery are just some of the rubbish that is being illegally dumped in and around the Bedford Estates area of the district, but Tibbetts says she has been looking at the problem elsewhere in the eastern districts. She said she has seen it happening in Breakers and Colliers, among other places. CNS has previously reported on high levels of fly tipping in West Bay, particularly in Barkers National Park.
Having watched companies illegal dumping, Tibbetts said, “This is despicable, and it is shameful to note that big name construction companies are also doing this, along with the smaller ones.”
Tibbetts has contacted government officials but she said reporting illegal dumping to the RCIPS falls on deaf ears and there is a desperate need for signs about fines for illegal dumping to be posted. She is urging government to amend the law to confiscate vehicles used to truck the garbage to dump it and to impose a more serious fine of $10,000. “Otherwise, people will continue to dump and don’t give a damn about our already fragile environment,” she added.
Unsightly garbage dumped illegally in Bodden Town (Photo by Kerry Tibbetts)
Responding to her email, Bodden Town MLA Osbourne Bodden said he and others in the district have been noting the problem and they, too, were “sick to death” of illegal dumping and disregard for the environment.
“This is a society problem that we have developed and it’s going to take communities standing up and doing exactly what you’ve done here to stop it. I agree littering signs and heavier fines are needed, but the latter are only useful if enforced,” said the minister, who was in charge of the relevant ministry earlier in the current administration. “I trust together we can stop this horrible practice before we really have a dump, as you say. It’s not limited to BT however; this is being done around the island by nasty, lazy people who could simply care less.”
Pointing to plans by government to fund and bring back the national beautification committees, Bodden said he had also contacted the director of the Department of Environmental Health. That department now falls under the premier’s ministry. Premier Alden McLaughlin was copied on Tibbetts’ email to various government officials but he has not yet responded to her complaint.
In an effort to record the levels of illegal dumping CNS is requesting readers who spot fly-tipping in their communities to take pictures, record the date, location and other relevant details and forward them to us at wendy@cns.tips
Category: Crime, Environmental Health, Health
Please don’t forget to Facebook your district repensentive about the illegal dumping of garbage all over the Islands.
Suggestion, institute a 15% salary tax on all expats to clean up the mess. I am sick and tired of all these British, Canadian and American nationals destroying our environment with their need to recycle everything. What happened to good old burning and dumping things into the ocean? Get some tugboats out of the scrap yard, load them up, and haul Mt. Trashmore into the Great Big Sea that surrounds us all. What good is it if we don’t use it? 10 miles offshore should solve the problem in a matter of months.
this is not British, Canadian and American nationals doing this, as a matter of fact the majority of British, Canadian and American nationals know this called recycling………….. this is being done by uneducated locals and expats from underdeveloped nations
I am sure that you find that funny.
Well since someone started it… roll with it. It’s gross that tourists have to smell the dump daily thinking our island has some funk going on. It does and it’s called the government but tourists are lucky to not know about that s*&# show.
Well….. ther is plenny funk goin on
I think that if we care about illegal dumping , and the environment , and the beauty of the Islands , and know that Government and DOE would not do anything about it, and is worthless, and don’t care about the environment .
We should see the responses of comments on this subject that Ms Tibbetts has brought to the public attention, and know that we as citizens of the Islands can do something about it . I recommend that she takes her evidence of photos to every news media on the Island and tell her story about how people are illegal dumping garbage all over the Islands, and government can’t and won’t do anything about it.
Ms Tibbetts and other citizens that are concerned about this issue, don’t stop the “keep Cayman Islands clean” campaign.
Remember that if we leave the illegal dumper and all other responsible parties alone it would get WORSE .
CaymanKind.
Your idiotic comment all over these forums is getting very boring! If you have such hatred for Cayman, why don’t you leave?
This government is not worried about the garbage problem in these islands. Just heard that because of lack of support for the community recycling depots at the supermarkets by government , Junk is pulling the service as they can’t continue to absolve the huge cost associated with the depots. Now this is a shame and disgrace. we should all be recycling to reduce the height and size of the dump but I guess we are proud of off the height of the dump being the tallest in the island. What a shame
i guess the politicians could not move the dump so the police does it for them. Hey at least someone is getting something done.
Instead of “JUNK” pulling out, why don’t they start paying for the bottles and cans to be collected from on the streets, bar and restaurants, garbage bins, roadsides, etc. For a small fee, bythe uneunemployed, I guess they wwill have to hire someone at the sites to record and pay. But it will be beneficial to the cause and keep a lot of garbage from going to the dump, just a fee days ago I collected five cases of bottles and took them to the Scholars park containers. Payup. Encourage them.
Listen, its bad enough that us expats as part of our “community service” have to clean up the beach and other stuff you guys leave around, but if you think we are doing it industrial scale, go think again….
You know you’ll do anything to stay in paradise.
Nothing will be done about this because the government don’t give two @hits about the environment. Better get used to more trash, smell, vermin, mosquitoes and everything else that comes with trash and dumping because it will only get worse. I have given up complaining to DOH and rcip about trash and dumping in barkers and other areas because I’m wasting my breath.
The reason illegal dumping is continuing is because our leaders don’t enforce the law. The reasons our leaders don’t enforce the law are:
1. because they don’t have time to address it.
2. they don’t gain anything from it.
3. it’s not in their yard.
3. they’re too busy.
4. they don’t care.
Feel free to add any other reason.
#2, #2, #2
Well said…
Sorry, Casey, but you missed the biggest one:
1. Because they are useless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not too long ago someone in the government put forward a waste management strategy that would charge people/companies by the amount of garbage they produce. Sounds fair in theory, however the real results of a policy like this will be rampant “fly tipping” anywhere there is an isolated road. These scumbags will multiply and lets face it, the government isn’t exactly big on enforcement of anything.
I applaud Ms Tibbetts for her efforts in this issue , and you should not stop SHAMING everyone until you have everyone responsible to stop doing it, and government do something about it.
I think that when you have pictures of someone doing something illegal , you have the rights to publicly expose that person / company after contacted responsible person / company .
Remember this story? NOTHING happened to the contractor!!
A contractor illegally dumped a load of debris on a North Side beach and left a sign stating: “Catch me if you can.” Then he got caught.
Following an alert from a member of the public and a story in the Cayman Compass, an investigator with the Department of Environmental Health went to the area and asked around until he figured out who left the mess. Department officials made whoever it was – they wouldn’t say – pick up the debris.
Tania Johnson, spokeswoman for Department of Environment Health, said the department gives people the chance to clean up a mess before taking any legal action. In this case, she said, the investigator told the contractor to clean it up. The site is now clean, and Ms. Johnson said the contractor will not be fined.
Not only littering is a problem in Cayman, but what a site this is for our tourists traveling East End Cayman Kai North Side….you coming up Frank Sound Road and on the left is a bunch of I can’t even find the word for them sitting in the bushes drinking, cars up and down and yu an see if the wrong person walks by you never know what can happen. I am scared just driving by this…plus a bar right across the street. Never a police car, nothing telling them to evacuate the premises. It looks like a garbage dump..garbage, tables, oh yeah couches…..you would think they were in their living room.
I call it the board meeting, They used to meet under the tree on the other side until it got bulldozed. It’s actually safer than it looks, probably due to the ownership of the restaurant across the street.
Can someone please move the Cuban boat that came in to South Sound by Miss Lassies house almost TWO WEEKS AGO!?!? DOE!?! Port Authority!?! ANYONE!?!
The boat is leaking diesel fuel onto the sand and will soon be broken to a million pieces by the surf!
Our Government is completely useless!
Not that people really care about that stuff here. Really.
If Mr O Bodden is sick to death , can you imagine how Ms Tibbetts feels about this disgraceful disrespectful act to the environment and Island . Why Mr Bodden see this going on and would not do anything about it , says what kind of representation he offers to the Islands and the environment. Maybe if the illegal dumper were directed to dump their garbage at his house he would wake up and do something about illegal dumping of garbage.
Mr Bodden illegal dumping of garbage is disgraceful , disrespectful , unsanitary, unhealthy, also George town dump , wake up and do something to earn your pay . Do it in the name of love for the Islands and the environment and the people , because the people of Cayman Islands deserve better than sick to death explanation.
Mr O is nothing but hot air…he is sick to death?? REALLY??? never heard anything from you till Ms Tibbetts brought it to light. Mr. O you are being made to do a job…if you are or were aware of the situation YOU SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT IT TO LIGHT AND STARTING FIXING IT, not just saying something after someone brings it to light…this seems like the norm for the lot of them..
Stop tipping flies, you b** yards.
Where are the District Councils which were promised to be set up? This is an issue which a district council should see to being dealt with properly and swiftly.
Also, the law needs to change whereby DOEH can impose penalties directly rather than having to go through the RCIP.
Suggestion – DOEH and NRA should have a teams who are responsible for the maintenance of only as specific section of the Island (WB, GT, BT and NS&EE). Those teams should be responsible for maintenance and the respective law enforcements in those areas. Having one team go all over the Islands has not been show to productive and efficient. If you have teams specific to a certain area, they will be more familiar with that area, more likely to be able to identify problems area and offenders and hopefully have more pride in getting the job done for their designed area.
This has NOTHING to do with beautification committee. There are laws that should be enforced but DOEH claims (and I believe it) that the laws are antiquated and have no teeth. People don’t want to come out and help and volunteer anymore because Government doesn’t see to it that people working in those departments (a) care to get the job done and (b) have the means (ie enforceable laws) to get the job done!
Good luck! I have reported so many littering issues and Government does not want to address the issue head on. Just as Humane Society reported recently that to their knowledge, nobody has ever been charged with animal cruelty and neglect, the same goes for littering, dumping etc. I recall not too long ago somebody dumped some stuff in North Side and they were able to determine who it was. As usual, that person or company got away with a slap on the wrist and a warning rather than making an example out of it.
Perfect spot, whole place is a dump anyway.
If the Director of the Department of Environmental Health was doing a good job, he would have had inspectors in the districts, checking and dealing with household/ property garbage. The culprits can be caught, just do surveillance on the area, publish it, fine and confine them.
Don’t let it be like the culprit in North Side that was let go. Shame on the perpetrators. Cleanliness is what we should all aspire to and keep Cayman clean.
This is disgusting! However, there is no prosecution for littering so these types of nasty folks will continue doing this! For example, some months ago the “catch me if you can” dumper was caught but DEH decided to have him clean up his illegal dump site instead of charging him under the Litter Law, thus enabling this type of nastiness!!
People tend to bring their lifestyles with them when they move to Cayman but this is one habit they should leave wherever they came from!!
It is the namyac(BACKWARD CAYMAN) and their 60% owned companies that are the cause of most of the heavy illegal dumping.
Check out also, the land between MUFG Building and MidTown Plaza, right on Elgin Ave. and by Liberty Restaurant, Opposite CNB Building. Its disgraceful!
Check the land across from PPM headquarters on Crewe Road where a Government agency has illegally dumped their heavy equipment and subsequently attempted in vain to spray paint over their logos.
bodden town needs a landfill
NO. speak for yourself we dont need anymore flies around us than we already have.
Agree, just give it to Dart already, cap the old dump and get on with our lives
Why don’t you see if mr & Mrs. Dart will adopt you