Anyone visiting Island Harbour and its environs may immediately see a difference if they knew what the situation was like before a comprehensive clean-up campaign which is continuing.

The mass removal of tons of solid waste has been undertaken by the Environmental Health Unit in association with Project Haands, a school and community group at Island Harbour. According to Senior Environmental Health Officer, Leroy Richardson, who is not only responsible for the eastern area of the island, but has taken a hands-on involvement in the particular clean-up campaign, the intention is to work on a pilot project to spread later to other areas of the island.

“I am very much aware of what is going on in the Island Harbour district and I feel that working with a community group, like Project Haands, will assist me in motivating and sensitizing the public to do the clean-up,” he said. “We have not got the response from as many people as we thought. A lot of them remain indoors while we work. Nevertheless, we are putting dumpsters around so that the people could utilize them during the week days and the force will come in at weekends, like we are doing now.”

Last weekend, Mr. Richardson was asked how much the extensive clean-up campaign was costing. “That is a good question,” he replied. “We want to do this on a zero budget but it is having cost implications. We need to get fuel and so we want to thank Delta Petroleum for providing the fuel for all the vehicles you see operating here: backhoes, loaders and trucks etc. This is our fourth week. The plan was to finish the clean-up over that period, but we are only half-way and probably have another four weeks to go.”

He explained that the general clean-up includes the compounds of householders so that the premises “will be free of old wood, metal objects and other solid waste. If you look in this area, there is a small dump site and we will ensure that this is cleaned up.” He stressed that the aim was not to clean up private yards and gardens, as this was a personal responsibility of householders, but his department was helping persons who needed assistance to remove mass collections of refuse they were unable to handle alone.

The clean-up also involves derelict vehicles as long as they can be loaded on the carriers taking them to the official dumpsite at Corito. Sure enough, many old buses, cars, pickups and trucks have been taken away from the area.

Mr. Richardson reflected on how the clean-up campaign was organised: “We had a town hall meeting towards the end of April and we explained to the people the things we hoped to do and want them to do,” he said “We also told them that after this we will enforce the Litter Act in the designated areas from which the solid waste was removed. The people will then be responsible for collecting and removing the waste. If they don’t do it, it means that their compounds will be dirty and, in accordance with the Litter Act, we will fine them.”

The Senior Environmental Health Officer has won the admiration of all persons in the Island Harbour community for his actual physical involvement in removing the solid waste and for his leadership, passion and hard work.

Various residents in the community, including owners and operators of heavy equipment and members of the Project Haands Group, have also come in for much commendation for their voluntary work, under the relentless heat of the sun, to ensure a cleaner Island Harbour.

The work is in conjunction with Solid Waste Awareness Month from June 1-30. The rationale for the programme is to make the general public aware of the public health significance of proper solid waste management; improve the sanitary status of homes, communities, roadsides and beaches; prevent and control the transmission of vector-borne disease outbreaks; improve environmental aesthetics and reduce the risk of injury.

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