Solid Waste is number one environmental threat

In the twenty-five years since independence Belize has signed on to dozens of international treaties and conventions, most of which appear to play little or no role in the daily life of Belizeans. But sometimes our arcane global commitments coincide with some very real problems that we can touch, feel, and–in this case–smell. News Five’s Kendra Griffith has the story.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
In 2002 Belize, along with one hundred and twenty-five countries, signed on to the Persistent Organic Pollutants or Stockholm Convention in an effort to reduce or eliminate harmful products in the environment.

Martin Alegria, Chief Environmental Officer
?In signing to that convention, countries such as Belize commit themselves to doing certain things. For example, to do a stock takes to see where we are in terms of those twelve chemicals, which are dangerous to human life and on a hold to see what we can do to minimise their negative impacts.?

Those findings were presented to the environmental community today at a half-day workshop. According to Chief Environmental Officer Martin Alegria, only two of that ?dirty dozen? remain problematic for the country.

Martin Alegria
?They are dioxins and furans, these are by-products or products out of incomplete combustion or combustion. For example, from open dumps whereby municipalities, would in terms of saving space or making space they would burn garbage. And by doing this there are negative impacts such as production of dioxins and furon, which are chemicals which could impact human health.?

It was those chemicals that Belizeans were exposed to for days on end in 2003 and again 2005 when spontaneous combustion prompted a blaze at the mile three dumpsite in Belize City.

Martin Alegria
?Those are the issues, the environmental and health impacts, negative impacts of those burnings at open dumps are what we are discussing right now to propose solutions for it.?

Kendra Griffith
?How would you all go about addressing that??

Martin Alegria
?Part of it is having a proper solid waste management plan. A proper solid waste management system, not only of key areas where most of the garbage is being produced, but country-wide, and this we have. Fortunately, we are advanced in that sense that we have produced since 2001 or 2002 what the department referred to as the Solid Waste Management Plan. The issue has been that there had been no money to implement the plan.?

In 1999 D.O.E. attempted to tackle the garbage issue with a proposed sanitary land fill at mile twenty-seven … a project that was opposed by several environmental organisations.

Martin Alegria
?Unfortunately, government perhaps saw through?saw what they were proposing and conceded that we will not establish that sanitary landfill at twenty-seven and hence it was moved to mile twenty-four. The monies that were invested to do all the environmental studies to design a sanitary mile fill at twenty-seven were just waste. So we had to do a separate study and E.I.A. for mile twenty-four, which is the one we are now proposing to use and hopefully in the near future start using.?

?That plan addresses the creation of sanitary landfill, somewhere around mile twenty-four with transfer stations being somewhere in Belize City. Original plans were to refurbish mile three, but I think that?s beyond the financial ability right now.?

Alegria says the situation is dire, particularly in the west, and government needs to deal with it now.

Martin Alegria
?We need to find monies to deal with our garbage situation urgently and in doing it, it will not only address dioxins and furons issues under the POPS convention, but it will address the number one problem in Belize, environmental problem in Belize, which is garbage management.?

Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.

Government has for a number of years been collecting an environmental tax which was supposed to fund sanitation efforts, but Alegria says that so far no money has been earmarked for the D.O.E. or its solid waste project.