George Town dump on fire again
(CNS): Government officials have said the George Town landfill has ignited again and Cayman Islands Fire Service crews are on scene trying to contain what was described as “a surface blaze”. The dump began burning Saturday lunchtime at about 1:15pm, according to a release from government. Officials said progress is being made on the fire, despite winds fanning the flames. Fire fighters from West Bay have also been deployed to help with this latest dump fire.
The blaze comes after CIFS and the Department of Environmental Health battled a deep-seated week-long blaze that had started last Saturday, but it is not clear if the two are related.
The increasing number of fires that are igniting at the ever-growing pile of trash, aka Mount Trashmore, come at a time when the preferred bidders on the proposed National Waste Management Plan were supposed to begin remediation work there.
DECCO, Dart’s construction company, and a consortium of local and international rubbish experts signed a deal with government some two and a half years ago. Negotiations then began over how the proposed integrated waste management plan would work. But despite the desperate need to address the growing and increasingly polluting monstrosity, nothing has happened.
Furthermore, the ministry continues to struggle with equipment problems and low morale among the dump workforce and garbage collectors. This has created persistent delays in the collection of local garbage across Grand Cayman.
CNS reached out to the ministry at the start of this week to ask when the remediation, which was due to begin at the start of this year, will actually get underway and when government actually expects to formalize a contract with DECCO some two and a half years after selecting them as the preferred bidder.
However, in response a government official confirmed that the ministry was too busy dealing with coronavirus and would not be able to address our inquiry.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Local News
Earthquakes, corona virus, dump fire, the 3 horsemen of the Cayman apocalypse are upon us!!!
Four
Four horsemen. The fourth one is Alden.
I live at lakeside and now moving, so tired of this.
Fire the entire CIG for all I care now.
Fix the fkin dump you stupid ignorant adults.
Lakeside should not have been given planning approval until the dump was capped.
Lakeside has been evacuated due to smoke levels from fire.
They can’t fix the dump even with Darts help. Face up Cayman, It’s never going to happen in your lifetime. CIG will never have what it takes to tackle the dump….Much less anything else.
Alden, Joey, Premier and Member for the Dump..What say ye?
Guess you couldn’t care less now that your little unity party is falling apart?
Still burning worse than ever with this wind.
Anyone heard from the Minister of Infrastructure?
Make no mistake about it Alden. This will be your only legacy. You, Joey, Roy, Tara, Moses and all the others that promised us 7 years ago you would solve the dump issue.
Instead you wasted all your time and energy fighting against equal rights for gay citizens who only want to be treated the same as everyone else and building a white elephant port that we don’t want, need nor can afford. Can’t wait for 2021.
Former PPM voter.
He has never said anything about THE DUMP even though it is in his district.
We suffer from a severe problem of gutless leadership and nobody is capable of stepping up to the plate with the possible exception of Wayne Panton.
Watching it burn right now. It’s getting worse by the minute…
The dump: Keeping Cayman Covid-19 free since 1993
When are we going to hold those who have ignoree this issue too long accountable? When someone dies from the blazing thing?
On fire AGAIN!!!
Don’t hold your breath.
Actually you probably want to do this with all the smoke…
Now might be a good time to do just that.
They do and say whatever they want because they know that the People of the Cayman island are sheep and will do nothing but complain to each other.
The people of the Cayman Islands are the greatest key board warriors.
You summed it up nicely. At this point they deserve what they are getting.
No one is ever held accountable in Cayman.
Which will kill us first? Coronavirus? Dump fumes?
How come the (very intelligent) CIS parents and kids (and personnel) have not sued Dart already?
Because they love him and his money and buildings
Yes, dem love dem bikes, dem cyar, dem building an ting, but more den anything dem love de dump burnin.
We respect him for what he has done and built on Cayman for all to see and use. Why do you love your government again?
Because it is not down wind from the Dump. Easy to check if your very intelligent. Impossible if your not. Like not Blaming Dart.
How can this be Dart’s fault? This is on our Government.
Who moved the dump right next to a school? Because it wasn’t our government. CIS students, parents, and every personnel have the right to sue Dart for moving it there. They can however also sue CIG for taking two years to negotiate how a proper waste management facility would be done in light of Dart confirming they wanted to deal with it. In fact, everyone else who lives or works within Camana Bay should be suing Dart. But we all know Dart is looking at how this can benefit him, not the country or environment. If every person dumped their trash in his waste management facility, imagine how much energy he could create to fuel his whole Camana Bay empire?
Camana Bay was built long after the dump, what is your point?
Planning permission should not have been given years ago for the town of Camana Bay unless the dump was fixed.
All that energy – what a waste…
Energy to waste, waste to energy… potato, potaaaato….
It is really burning at the moment Sunday 16:00
Terrible. How you keep voting these clowns in is anyone’s guess.
It’s about time we allow all Caymanians of 15 years tenure to stand for election. New blood is required.
Oh please, please, please, home rule. We cannot continue with all this nonsense and corruption.
Make it 25 years and make them prove they were not made Caymanian by Mac, and I would be on board.
GT (non) voter So that is the reason for all the organized protests.. agitate enough that Britain steps in and imposes direct rule. Why? Because you all want to rule and think you are superior to locals.Not happening !!
Make it 150yrs and I’m with you
There are simply no alternatives. That is the crux of the problem.
No alternatives? Are you sure you’ve actually thought about what’s happening? There are dozens and dozens of alternatives to doing NOTHING.
How dumb would they have to be to keep voting in those clowns again and again? There’s your answer.
We continue to pay the price for mismanagement of the dump until we start the process of holding those who responsibility it was to fix this terrible situation accountable or responsible this will continue and so will the fires.
Caymanians will not do this. It would be culturally insensitive.Watch as nothing happens again.
Coronavirus is going to be the excuse for everything. Haven’t sorted the dump? Coronavirus. LA without a Speaker or a Deputy Speaker so can’t sit? Coronavirus. Haven’t passed a referendum law so can have the referendum on the port? Coronavirus? Schools assessments still terrible? Coronavirus. Sigh.
Yeah, and Trump blamed coronavirus the other day on Obama. What a joker.
And Obama will blame it on Trump. Left right paradigm Punch and Judy Show.
The Department’s logic is that incinerators cost a lot of money and like most government equipment can’t be serviced locally, so leave it to nature as it costs nothing.
CIS school should be closed until the dump toxins are solved.
Marbel drive should be evacuated and Kirk Supermarket closed.
Told ya so…
I never smell anything there and I go there every weekday . This Saturday I was at Kirks home center and It stunk to high heaven. Instead of closing the best school on the island(Why? Is it to make the others look better? Truly pathetic.) Check wind direction, (Today ENE 67 degrees), go on Google earth and see what is down wind from the dump. Right now Kirks home center to the wharf and everything in between and before. It would have to be blowing straight South to hit the school. Which is now closed on Monday to be safe. Would you suggest they close Kirk home center, grocery store, all the condos and houses down wind, the Wharf restaurant, Kentucky fried chicken, creative tech. and everything in Bay town plaza? Or just the school?
A monument to incompetency
“…the ministry was too busy dealing with Coronavirus and would not be able to address our inquiry.”
You can’t make this stuff up! Cancer kills more people here than coronavirus ever will.
Simple chemistry at work here. Combustible materials plus heat and pressure = fire. If CIFS were doing their job they’d have told CIG that Mt Trashmore was inherently unsafe and should be closed a long while ago.