Activists urge officials to tackle Barkers dumping
(CNS): Environmental activists Plastic Free Cayman partnered with a number of other non-profit organisations at the weekend to conduct a pre-Easter Camping clean-up at Barkers Beach near the kite-surf area. Almost a hundred volunteers picked up over 800lbs of largely plastic waste that had washed up on the shore, but the activists noted the local trash being dumped there.
“Although much of the trash was in fact plastic washed onto the shore, it is clear that local litter is still a big problem,” said Claire Hughes, the founder of the non-profit organisation that has been fighting for a ban on certain single-use plastics since 2017. “Barkers continues to house several illegal dumping sites. PFC would like to see more enforcement of the current litter law.”
Hughes said she was happy to see so many volunteers at the biggest clean-up this year so far and especially encouraged by the younger children who created a short video during the clean-up to help educate their classmates about plastic alternatives.
One of those alternatives was brought along to the event by Manu Pra, a young Caymanian aiming to tackle the plastic pollution problem through her business, “Eco Eats”. Pra handed out free samples of edible spoons to all the volunteers.
POF Co-leader Nic Corin said he hoped that the continued efforts to clean up the beaches show the government that the community wants to see a change in the way we treat our environment.
Dr Iulia Irimis, from Royale Medical & Wellness Center, the private sector partner for the event, said it was a success given the amount of plastic removed but “it was depressing to see so much trash on the beach”.
Contact plasticfreecayman@gmail.com for all inquiries and suggestions about potential clean-ups.
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Category: Environmental Health, Health, Land Habitat, Science & Nature
Wow edible spoons…wonderful baby steps towards plastic free Cayman. Welcome Eco Eats!! Kudos to Ms. Pra for brining it to Cayman.
While there’s little we as a “destination” for flotsam and jetsam beach garbage can do but clean it up, the locally produced beach garbage is a disgusting habit by beach users, as is fly-tipping (wanton illegal dumping of garbage and materials).
However, fly tipping isn’t unique to Cayman although a relatively “new” phenomenon. South Shields UK reported over 6000 cases in 2021 and some locations in SW Dade County see atrocious levels every day – often large objects like cars and boats and anything else which can fit within..
But with Cayman’s litter laws unenforced, disgusting people with such habits will continue. Even messy concrete trucks which splatter the roads with their mix are ignored!!
NoName says:
28/03/2022 at 2:21 pm
“What our little island desperately needs is competent and toothy enforcement of present regulations and accords , then and only then there wold a chance to establish better relations, more respectful relations with cruise liners , until then pretty much all proclamations are to be without any effect on current practices”
Pretty soon we will have a former Fire Prevention Officer as the new acting Port Director. Maybe he can implement this… or at least make sure they have fire extinguishers on board.
Most of the garbage at Barkers is from Haiti. At least 50% of the plastic I picked up was water pouches. Hundreds of them.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2015/sep/28/cleaning-up-haiti-safest-water-source-contaminating-in-pictures
It is time to make serious improvements to Barkers, for both the environment and for enjoyment of the area. Make it a true National Park we can all be proud of for generations to come. Which should include gates to eliminate overnight dumping. It could be so much more than it is now.
From all your time and front row seat deep within the DART machine, we can be pretty sure you know the true landlord position in there. It doesn’t need to be developed…sorry, “improved”. Re-wilded maybe.
Improvements are likely comimg in the form of more concrete condos
The only “improvement” it needs is to be left alone other than picking up trash and fining the POS who dump there.
Pro tip the amount of trash and plastic you see on the beaches at the moment is fairly small compared to what the cruise vessels dump at sea as soon as they are in international waters . As long as the island’s port authority does not enforce MARPOL international regulations to cruise ships as they should for all commercial vessels (tonnage data is available and reveals how much a vessel dumps to sea) , that data is accessible and does not cost a dime to access , just brains , which are me thinks not a requirement for applying. The vessels that produce large variations of tonnage are fined by ports of call everywhere BUT here!
As long as this international regulation (which cayman has ratified in 2005) is not put into effect and enforced expectation of a different result is nothing short of stupid or demagoguery)
AIS data transponders are required for all commercial vessels , how hard can it be to collect prior to granting permission to dock ? Our local DoE and cost guard throws the book to local captains on the matter while entirety ignoring the matter on the larger class of vessels ! How credible can the enforcement be ?
while i do understand our local ecologists try their best , I for one cannot excuse their silence when it comes to this matter which is a very large chunk of the issue.
One could raise the issue that the ships are registered in the Bahamas etc , but nowhere in the CARICOM agreements are there any provisions barring the applicability of MARPOL , much to the contrary since vessel data is to be shared between all ports of call .
What our little island desperately needs is competent and toothy enforcement of present regulations and accords , then and only then there wold a chance to establish better relations, more respectful relations with cruise liners , until then pretty much all proclamations are to be without any effect on current practices.
The dumpers are too lazy to drive to George Town. In the absence of strict enforcement of the litter law, DEH should establish at least three local drop off sites in West Bay, Bodden Town and Frank Sound. They should know this works based on the popularity of the bins/tips that are placed around the districts every Christmas.
Like spending Easter on the Beach, dumping garbage at Barkers is a decades old family tradition in West Bay.Like running red lights, nothing will change until large fines start being handed out.
Motion activated camera right where the chain is (or used to be). Contract is paid from fines collected. Easy.