An unsightly scene of refuse and waste littering Bucks, St Thomas, has angered Member of Parliament Cynthia Forde.
And today, the Barbados Labour Party MP invited a team from Barbados TODAY on a tour of the area, located a mere two minutes from the Mangrove Landfill.
During the half-hour tour, the outspoken parliamentary representative pointed to the coconut shells, used tyres, the skeletal remains of a butchered cow, burnt plastic bottles, withered shrubs, barrels bearing the names of persons who did not reside in the parish and rubble from construction sites dumped indiscriminately at the site.
“I think that the dumping at Bucks, St Thomas, is extremely dangerous, not only for our health, but for the environment as well,” a worried Forde said.
The Shadow Minister for Social Care explained that the area was normally used for raising livestock, however a fire in Christie Village, St Thomas, several weeks ago, burned all the way down to Bucks. The land now lies fallow and “people have sought to turn the area into a dumping site”.
Blaming truckers for the illegal dumping, Forde said she was concerned that the large number of tyres filled with rain water provided fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and presented a threat to the health of residents.
Shadow Minister for Social Care, Cynthia Forde
“It is really heart-wrenching to see that all of a sudden that Bucks, St Thomas, is now becoming a dumping ground for irresponsible truckers. It is so sad that Barbadians have been fortunate to benefit from free education and free health services for quite some years now, yet the education seems not to be touching those of us who believe that the quckest way to dispose of their garbage is on other people’s property, not considering what the repercussions would be,” she said.
The opposition MP promised to draw the issue to the attention of the Environmental Protection Department at Warrens, St Michael.
Forde also suggested that the property owners at Bucks should install chains at the entrances to their properties in order to halt the illegal dumping.
Arguing that there had been a culture shift in Barbados in recent years, Forde said: “People in Barbados have become more self-centred. They have no considertation for others, once they solve the immediate problem that affects them. People now dump old television sets, batteries and other toxic waste in waterways, oblivious of the fact that they may be contaminating the water supply. They are not thinking about the welfare of future generations.”
When contacted today, Principal Environmental Health Officer Ronald Chatman said the matter was drawn to his attention only earlier today.
However, Chatman assured residents that he and a team from his department would tour of the area on Friday to assess the situation.