Pictures reveal dump as seen by cruise visitors

| 30/04/2009

(CNS): Photographs taken from the deck of a cruise ship anchored in the Cayman Islands are making the round on an e-mail and have been posted on a website illustrating the state of the George Town dump. A key feature on the campaign trail, the landfill and the failure by the PPM government to address the problem during their time in office is becoming a common criticism. Aside from the dump’s unsightly appearance (as illustrated in the pictures) and unpleasant smell, the main concern is leaching into the North Sound. (Photos by Kerry Horek)

The debate concerning what should be done about the George Town dump which has continued for several years resurfaces during each election campaign. However, each successive administration seems to struggle to address the issue. Although this administration says it has adopted a solution and has plans in place for a waste-to-energy programme, it has not been able to begin the initiative because of the expense. Nonetheless, a number of candidates have said the proposed plans, which were the result of cross party research, are not only far too expensive they will only address the top third of the garbage and have suggested an incineration programme.

Speaking at the George Town Chamber Candidate’s District Forum on Tuesday (28 April) Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts said adressing the dump was on the priority list .

“The Minister for Communication and Works has gone a far distance with regards to solid waste disposal and plans are to move ahead … this is going to cost us close to $150 million at the end of the day and we have to devise ways and means that it can pay for itself.”

On Monday, when a question about these pictures being posted on the web came up at the forum in West Bay, the candidates all lamented the failure to address the problem. “Resolving the issue of the dump is a critical tourism and environmental issue,” said Rolston Anglin. “Governments have looked at the possibility of a waste-to-energy. I believe a public-private should be engaged in to ensure that we continue down that track,” he said, adding there was also a need to create a sustainable way to manage our waste into the future.

A number of candidates have said that the waste-to-energy plan will not address the whole dump and that much of it will still need to be incinerated. Others have raised very real concerns that this can no longer be an issue that keeps getting placed on the back-burner and has become a critical problem as it is leaching pollutents into the Sound.

Arden McLean, whose ministry the dump falls under, has said the plan he wants to put in place which came out of the work of the solid waste management committee, would bring the dump to zero and that the plan does include incineration and recycling. Speaking at the first Chamber Forum in East End, he said the consultant’s study on how to tackle it was finished last year.  “That plan calls for the total reduction of the dump as is in nineteen years down to zero through the process of incineration and a waste-to-energy programme,” he said, adding that it was his biggest regret that the current financial situation has prevented the initiative from going ahead. “It’s unfortunate that we did not get to that.”

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  1. Pete2011 says:

    I lived next to the DUMP in the Lakeside condos. The apartments are great but the daily DUMP smell is very bad for anyones health and mood. We left our house after 10 days and moved out. Ofcourse Lakeside did not returned us our deposit. Is there any Lawyer on the Island who has been dealing with this kind of procedures already in the past? I can't believe we are the only one.. TNX!

  2. Anonymous says:

    The Cayman Islands. Famous for:

    1) pristeen beaches

    2) a massive dump.

    Awesome.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Caymanian , let’s wake up. that a lot of stinking smelling pile of waste. Vistors is one of the keys to our sucessful way of life.  We have to fix it.

  4. (a) (reality) (that) (is) says:

    "Burying our trash is a normal proceedure which many countries also practice. If Mount trashmore had some vegetation around it, it would look just like any other mountain."

    Fine, but:

    (1) most countries whose economies are dependent upon tourism would not pile their trash in plain sight of the main point-of-entry of a significant number of their tourists.  In fact, most countries wouldn’t even put it in sight of their main centers of population;

    (2) there is not in fact any vegetation on it (probably due to budget cutbacks resulting from the Bridger-gate Bleed-out of the Treasury); and

    (3) it does not look like any other mountain, it looks like what it is: various heaps of rotting stinking garbage, some buried and some not, piled higher than the surrounding trees and buildings.

    All centers of human population create garbage, clearly.  It just does not fit in plain sight in a tourist destination.   This is aside from the OBVIOUS environmental issues that need to be discussed (recycle, reuse, reduce, don’t kill the planet, etc…).

    Think of it: "Mom!  Look!  There’s Mickey Mouse!  There’s Donald Duck!  Oh, look! There’s a heap of rotting smelly garbage beside the Magic Kingdom!"…  See, it just doesn’t quite fit.

  5. Kerry Horek says:

    Dear CNS:

    I am very happy for the exposure my pictures have created on the issue of Mt. Trashmore.  I feel I owed this to my country and my people to raise this issue through actual photos and that day I made a concientious decision to do so from the balcony of the cruise ship I was vacationing on.

    What is disturbing to me is that I sent these photos to all the Ministers several days before I circulated them and although I can appreciate they are busy on the campaign trail, only one took the time to respond and that was the Hon. Minister Anthony Eden, of which I am thankful that he did.

    Everyday I drive around this island photographing areas in residential neighbourhoods where garbage is piled with vehicles and household disposed items.  This saddens me because personally I feel that we can impose mandatory recycling in this country but for whatever reason or the other we have not done so as yet.  I am simply tired of us failing and falling behind on this issue that is impacting us seriously now and I don’t even want to think about what the impact will cause in the future for our children.

    I am hoping that the Government after May 20th will bring this issue to the forefront and work on this very seriously.  I know that the private sector must play a roll in this as well and therefore I am calling on every resident in this country to do their part to help our new Government make this a priority.

    Thank you for publishing the photographs and also  thanks to CITN who interviewed me on this matter.  I would state that I also sent this to all the local papers but I have yet to see any publication from them.  This is sad because I sent these photos to all the media houses at the same time.  Regardless, if some acted on it sooner than others it should be published in all forms, as not everyone watches tv or has internet access.  This issue is very serious and needs allthe publicity itcan receive and for the print media to overlook it is simply not cool.

    Kerry Horek

  6. Anonymous says:

    OH WOW !!!!! ARE WE THE ONLY COUNTRY WITH A VISIBLE GARBAGE DUMP ????? NO!!!!!

    • MickeyMouse says:

      Response to "Oh Wow!"

      No the Cayman Islands certainly isn’t the only country with a visible garbage dump but the fact that the Island is so small makes the issue a much more serious one.  In most North American cities, the garbage dump is located on the outskirts, in the industrial area or a ways outside of the city – not right next to wear people are living and going to school and carrying about their day to day routines.  The fact as well that there is precious little soil here to dig up and bury the garbage with is also of concern –natural degrading of the garbage cannot occur without the constant mixing of soil and garbage.  And as I understand it, though restrictions may recently have been implemented, historically there never rules on what you could take to the Cayman dump (something that is typical for North American cities) so it is full of not only garbage but old cars, refrigerators, tires, and probably a whole lot of toxic and flammable materials:  paint and fuel cans etc.  Can you imagine the toxic fumes that would be greated if general burning took place on such a small Island .  This is a real problem that goes way beyond what North American cities have to deal with.

  7. Anonymous says:

    The nationality of the photographer is unimportant.

    This is a disgrace and an embarassment not to mention an environmental disaster waiting to happen.

    Between the no action on the land fill and the Conservation law not having been passed I must say that the government receives low marks for environmental stewardship.

    • Anonymous says:

      For the information of those who refer to the George Town Landfill as The Dump.

      The correct name is Mount Trashmore, and honestly it does not look any different from trash mountains in the USA or other countries.

      Just take a drive North on 1-75 next time you visit the USA and you will croos quite a few similiar mountains along the way.

      Burying our trash is a normal proceedure which many countries also practice. If Mount trashmore had some vegetation around it, it would look just like any other mountain.

  8. Anonymous says:

     "What is the the address of the website with the pictures please."

    You can find at least one of the images at the link below.  

    Unfortunately, it is now loaded as a feature of the Cayman Islands on Google Earth (the world’s most popular planetary viewing platform), available for all of the world’s web-connected population to review in advance of their travel planning.  Sucks to be us…

    http://www.panoramio.com//photo/3625061

  9. Anonymous says:

    FYI people , the person who took this pictures is a Caymanian not a tourist.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Amazing yet sad. Just a train of thought but has anyone in government considered a recycling and sorting initative of all solid waste in the Cayman Islands. The reason the dump is high is the sole fact that everyone in Cayman just put swhat is considered trash into one bag. It would be a good idea to actually have people sort their trash before it is collected but that could also be another business venture for government. They could build a facility to sort incoming trash and any trash that can be recycled could be bailed and sold to overseas companies. Also it could provide a few jobs for people here in the country. That huge eye sore of a dump could be a small fortune for government as well.

  11. MickeyMouse says:

    Reply to Mr. McLean’s comment Speaking at the first Chamber Forum in East End, he said the consultant’s study on how to tackle it was finished last year.  “That plan calls for the total reduction of the dump as is in nineteen years down to zero through the process of incineration and a waste-to-energy programme,” he said, adding that it was his biggest regret that the current financial situation has prevented the initiative from going ahead. “It’s unfortunate that we did not get to that.”

    Funny how given the ‘current financial situation’ shiny brand new government offices are a priority to saving this Island and surrounding sea from becoming an environmental disaster. 

  12. Anonymous says:

    Mr. Burns, I do not think you have to worry where the dump will be placed because I understand the PPM have decided to relocate the dump to near the Northward Prison after they are elected.

    In my opinion this is not a bad idea since it seems like we already have so much other garbage up that way like the prisoner who is charged with killing Sabrina.

    Go PPM.

    Go with the Action Man for strong decision making!

    • Anonymous says:

      For your information the leader of the PPM lives very close to Northward Prison and I doubt that he would want a new Landfill in his Backyard.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Please oh please don’t let Arden get his bungling hands on this.  iIdo not believe that the right person to handle this is a person who believes that it’s his way or the highway. With Arden at the controls of cleaning up Mt. Trashmore it is a classic case of…..’If you don’t have the knowledge you will be led astray by any fast talking foreigner". And that’s what’s happening to Arden. 

    Instead of calling him the Action Man you should call him the Mess Man because he has made a mess of roads (Bad designs), hurricane cleanup removal Matrix (Bad decision),  wanting to destroy the Ironwood Forest (Spiteful)

    Now if you combine bad designs, bad decisions with spitefulness….and wrap that in a package calledrelocating the landfill.

    I’m not sure I want to be on the island if Arden is in charge of that!

  14. (verified) / says:

    "Others have raised very real concerns that this can no longer be an issue that keeps getting placed on the back-burner and has become a critical problem as it is leaching pollutents into the Sound."

    Any studies on what that is doing to the Sound?  is it hurting the fish or the stingrays?

  15. Bob The Builder says:

    Ironically enough, if a UDP Government comesto power, Mr. Dart may well be in a position to buy it again, if the Government offices move in to Camana Bay of course. That nice new Admin building could be used as a sorely needed extension of Northward prison. Not even Manderson could break out of that thing!

  16. the Earth says:

    It’s a shame that envoronmental awareness only comes once human economic interests are threatened.  If it didn’t imact the tourist trade, would you really care?

    Don’t forget the ocean, your other non-finance economic base…

    http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans

     

  17. "He promised us a new landfill at his political rally, so I trust him to deliver."

    Did he promise to put it in his back yard?  No one else wants it in theirs. 

    Politicians can promise the moon and the stars, pre-election.  How exactly is he going to fulfill this promise?

  18. Anonymous says:

    Be aware…

    …Take the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It turns out that every time it rains or the wind blows, our plastic bottles and bags and other garbage are swept into the ocean. Because plastic basically lasts for thousands of years before degrading, we’ve been creating ever larger and more pernicious swirl of plastic garbage in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, as well as the 5 other ones on the planet. How much plastic? How about 18 million tons..

     

     

     

  19. Caymanian to the bone says:

    I trust only Arden McLean to change this. Now that he got our roads in relatively good order, he will get a new landfill for us. This does not mean that I support the PPM ticket, but Arden is an "action man" and if anydody can, he will be the man do it. He promised us a new landfill at his political rally, so I trust him to deliver, just as he said that he would bring about postive change in our roads system, which he did accomplish.

    Wish every politician was hard working like Arden MCLean.

     

     

  20. anonymous says:

    If only some of you would keep yourselves informed on what’s happening in your Country!! My goodness! The PPM Government has carried out extensive work on this….this is one of the projects that they had to hold off on because of the current economic situation! There is a plan in place to deal with it but it will cost lots and lots of $$$$$’s…..the same $$$’s that you all are crying out about the PPM Government spending! What is wrong with you lot? Government is spending too much….Government has done nothing…Government this…Government that….make up your minds people!! All you with the great solutions to all the issues…I can only assume you have come up with the majic plan to get themall done for FREE!!

  21. MickeyMouse says:

    I can’t believe the idiocy of some of these comments about the garbage issue on this Island.  Every time you throw out a piece of paper,  a can or a bag or a bottle or a milkcarton or jar or a plastic container –where do you think it goes?  Do you think the garbage fairies make it magically disappear??  It goes to the dump of course and so Mt. Trashmore gets higher and higher year after year. 

    If you create any garbage at all then garbage and waste is your problem too.  Recycling what we can will definitely help but the issue is:  so what if we recyle?  Where is the recycled material going to go?  Currently there is no one on this Island using recycled materials to create new products.  That’s an industry in itself that needs to be developed here but in the meantime, the recycled materials would have to be shipped off the Island to the U.S.    And what U.S. business owner is going to accept the materials if they have to pay for the shipping too?  There would likely be a market for the recyclable materials on the mainland if the Cayman Islands Government would cover the cost of transportation.

  22. Anonymous says:

    "I am surprised one of the candidates has not already suggested publicly sending the pile to the Brac!  Obviously digging a larger hole is not the answer.  When will government understand the environmental costs of tourism and poulation growth.  There are answers!"

    In response to the above noted comment.  Are you for real?  Did you just finish smoking crack?!?  Why in the world should the garbage on Grand Cayman be sent to Cayman Brac?  Brackers did not make the garbage, so why should we have to accept your rubbish.  Get off your high horse Grand Caymanians!  You all have always felt like you are better than Brackers, just because your freaking island happens to be the largest.  Look around you, Brackers are some of the most educated and accomplished people in these islands!  We had to come to Grand Cayman and show you how to run things.  Most of the well established businesses in Cayman are owned by Brackers, Kirkconnells (Freeport, Supermarket, Home Centre), Cox Lumber, Big Daddy’s/Mezza, the list goes on an on…

    I can’t believe that someone would be so stupid to even suggest that this is the answer to the garbage problem in Grand Cayman.  Get a life, go read a book, and come back when you have something thought provoking AND intelligent to say. F-ing IDIOT!!!!

     

  23. frank rizzo says:

    If the CNS report is correct that "

    A number of candidates have said that the waste-to-energy plan will not address the whole dump and that much of it will still need to be incinerated", we need to really, really think about the intelligence/understanding of these candidates. Waste-to-energy is the actual incineration of garbage to produce heat which is then used to produce electricty. So anything that can be incinerated would be used and from what I understand the amount of items that can be incinerated continues to grow as the technology improves.

     

    The problem may be that the energy expended to incinerate the bottom half of the dump is greater than the potential energy recovered – which renders that portion economically unfeasible.

     

  24. Anonymous says:

    For those of you blaming the PPM, don’t you think it was like this when the UDP was in too.  Uh duh its been this way for years and neither government has tackled it yet.  So those of you who always like to point the finger against one goverment or the next use your head, no one has so far tackled this. 

  25. Caymanluvr says:

    Mr. Burns Conolly!

    Thanks for taking the time to be current and for addressing the issue.  I’m glad that you understand that it is most certainly a priority. 

    THANK YOU.

  26. Anonymous says:

    This is disgraceful and very sad!I had no idea that’s what the dump looked like from a cruise ship. This is so sad for the Cayman Islands. What a terrible first impression:( We need to put recycling measures in place right away! I know it’s not Mr. Dart’s issue alone….but since he ownes almost every single piece of land on that side of the island then why doesn’t he step in and help us sort out this mess as well!

  27. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps a deeper concern are the possible health impacts caused by leaching into the water supply. Heavy metals are not easily removed, even by reverse osmosis. The potential health risks are diabolical

  28. anonymous says:

     I don’t think we should be making a big deal about this. The next government’s "solution" is likely to be worse than the current status. 

     

    Given the pathetic level of environmental awareness of our politicians they might decide to bulldoze it all into the ocean in order to please the voters.

     

    Seriously, they have no clue about nature or sustainability. Be afraid, be very afraid…

    • Caymanite says:

      We can blame who we want, it is our tendency to just turn around and pass blame……..whatever.

      In the meantime, every one of us can do our little bit, it all adds up. Try to cut back on the amount of waste you are creating, take your own bags to the supermarkets, don’t use the little clear plastic bags that are in the fruit and veg aisles, do you really need to put your one tomatoe in it’s own little bag? Of course not.

      Try not to just throw stuff out, recycle what you can for other uses.

      However, in the long term we do need to start stamping our feet and getting this problem sorted out, we need to be able to recycle aluminum cans, paper, food waste, etc etc. Most countries levy a charge on you if you are not doing your bit to recycle.

      We are ALL the problem. No one person is to blame, what do you want the UDP or PPM to do? Eat the garbage or something? This is our problem, every single one of us living here and if we do not take steps to counter the issues then Cayman will be known as the stinky island in the sun.

      • Caymanite says:

        NEWSFLASH:-

        Dart already TRIED to purchase the dump and surrounding land with the idea of making it look pretty, don’t you think this is an eyesore for him and his businesses at Camana Bay too?

        Unfortunately his efforts were in vain, government turned him down.

  29. Burns Conolly says:

    Burns Conolly Responds

    This was a part of a post I did on Facebook a week or so ago discussing this issue. I repost it here for your use in this discussion.

    "We see that the dump has only gotten taller in the last few years, now over 100 feet I understand and up from 55 feet in 2004. There have been at least two studies that I know of, one in the late nineties or early 2000, the other was commissioned by the current government that I understand revolved around W2E (waste to energy) idea. Our garbage makeup is, not surprisingly, a direct match to the USA and we know that the level of packaging is very high due to the marketing approach in the US.

    I understand that the top third of the dump may be able to have some usable energy in it (economical enough to use) while the bottom 2/3 is basically unusable for that purpose. The dump is not lined thus the breakdown of chemicals and materials will have leached into the ground and ground water thus potentially also into the North Sound. The dump would also have methane gas in it however since it is unsorted it is very difficult to drill safely into due to the possibility of fire or explosions. More importantly, which is not widely known, is that the smell goes off island and directly to the Cruise Ships..they actually smell the dump when in harbour as well!! Nice introduction to Cayman! So….

    The key to this one is at least sevenfold 1) find a new site and line it properly and begin a proper solid waste management scheme, 2)Introduce recycling and garbage sorting in the homes and businesses, 3) sort the top third of the existing dump to Waste-to-energy (W2E), 4) drill into the existing dump with low spark drill bits and vent methane possibly to W2E, 5) put in monitoring wells around site to see what damage is being done, 6)Incinerate garbage and 7) long term, if needed, to relocate/recycle the dump completely which is likely to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars for that alone.–those are the key ideas that I see, not in any particular order of priority.

    Relocation is going to be one of the biggest issues. No one would want this in their backyard-the NIMBY syndrome. Locations that have space for this "new dump" are currently on the otherside of the island and thus away from the main producers of garbage. That will increase the cost of dumping significantly over the existing. The existing cost of removal is more than twice what residential users pay leading the commercial and Apartment owners to subsidize the home pick-up. We have to resolve these issues as well in finding a solution for the dump.

    Need I say that most of these issues are very expensive to resolve and the country needs to come to serious terms with a solution to this and how it will be paid for- we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve as it is getting worst. Unfortunately, there are no easy, inexpensive solutions that will be a short term fix but we need to move this deliberately forward. The next Government should pick up where this one has left off and make the next step.  Hope that helps to get the discussion going along."

    Burns Conolly

  30. Anonymous says:

    What a shame!! Why didn’t the PPM address this???? This is the greatest environmental concern facing our country!!!

     

  31. Anonymous says:

    Minimizing garbage does not take a lot of resources just a well thought out implementation plan forced upon the people by the Government! Ban plastic bags! Some people end up with as much as 20 plastic bags on each shopping trip! Ban the use of throw-away plastic containers on restaurant premises! Encourage the use of biodegredable containers by reducing or waving import duty! Educate parents, teachers and children to not pack lunch boxes containing ziplock bags and juice boxes etc. There is a lot then can be done without a lot of cost. Implementing a recycling program is great but doesn’t fix the problem if nobody begins to seriously consider how to minimize garbage being produces to begin with………

  32. Anonymous says:

    Let us be clear, the MLAs have had full representation from an island based Syndicate, to remove Mt Trashmore, instigate an incineration program utilising the methane produced from the waste and to effectively deal with all future waste, including recycling.

    Unfortunately greed, on their behalf, compounded with gross incompetence, has resulted in absolutely nothing being done and the aforementioned Syndicate (in collaboration with world leading US Based waste disposal corporation) have simply given up because of their mounting costs.

    This project could have virtually removed the entire problem, in the time theGovernment has been pontificating and squabbling about how they could profit from it….they are entirely to blame and they should be held responsible for this shameful catastrophe.

    Is it any wonder that one day Mr. Dart will own and ultimately run this country!

     

  33. Ugly anyway! says:

    Trashmore or not Cayman is far probably the ugliest island visited on a Caribbean cruise – it’s flat, scrubby, overdeveloped. 

    • Anonymous says:

      To trashmore or not: you were not invited and apparently you did not tour the entire island only the "business" district because if you did you would see the beauty of these islands.  PLEASE don’t return because with tourists like you visiting Cayman we would really become UGLY !!!!!!!!!

  34. Anonymous says:

    These photos are going around in email form as well and they are horrific. Every candidate should address this issue and the honourable arden mclean should explain himself as the responsible minister.

    I would hope that those in government would feel shame at looking at these photos but probably not.

  35. As suggested by a friend:

    "Could they not plant grass to control the erosion & then add coconut trees with low lying shrubs as soon as it stabilizes. At the very least on the west side?



    Most of all, a mandatory recycling program must begin at once, with a complete ban on the use of plastic shopping bags".

     

    My reply to him was:  Great idea. But that would require a thinking politician in charge of the Environment! We wouldn’t want that now would we!!

    I like the idea, lets turn it into something positive, let’s conquer this mountain of a mess.

  36. Anonymous says:

    Every Country Have Garbage. And We AllMade The Mountain Ourselves Because Its All Our Garbage. But For Your InfoThere Is Order At the DUMP Now you dont just go and dump any more they tell you where to dump certain materials .So far as i am concerned there was progress made at the dump for sorting out the garbage.So even with all of you talking GARBAGE do what PPM campaign slogan says dont stop the PROGRESS .

  37. Anonymous says:

    To mind your business:

     

    Of course, Mr. Dart should clean it up…..He made his riches on styrofoam and paper products…Most of that garbage therefore is his. And excuse me, but why do we build a school right on top of the toxic mess….It really reminds you of Slumdog.

  38. Future says:

    Have mercy! Well I dont know if you guys know but Mr. Justin Woods an independent for Bodden Town has the dump as one of the issues he would deal with. Yes I saw this on his manifesto that I received in my post box the only manifesto I’ve seen to date from the Bodden Town candidates. His solution is a user friendly recycling program and sorting facilities with the end result been reused locally – mulch, compose and glass to be mixed with asphalt. I researched it and this is a great idea! We need to do something about the waste product before we destroy our island paradise.

    I’m looking for candidates with solutions this election what about you?

    I’m still reviewing my choices but this guy has my vote for sure. Ms Twyla he even has a solution to the cumber issue of flooding….a pumping station how easy is that. I urge you to check him out I’m sure glad I did.

     

  39. Mind Your Business says:

    Now before everyone gets too out of control on the politics of this, just stop for a minute and admitthat you are all just as much as much to blame as anyone else for this mess. It’s your garbage, and way too much of it. Successive Goverments have failed to take it seriously and now it has clearly come to a point where it can no longer be ignored. I think that nice Mr. Dart offered to buy it and deal with it at one stage, of course nobody could risk setting up a replacement in their elective District, wouldn’t be much of a vote getter I’m guessing.

    This is not just about the garbage dump, it is also about laying down long term and sustainable methods of reducing daily waste so the problem doesn’t arise again 20 years from now.

  40. Ms. Green Thumb says:

    I remember when we first moved into our office building a few yearback I was surpised to see it then. I exclaimed "Cayman has a mountain?!!" followed by a bunch of laughing co workers..WOW (yikes) is all I can say now. Well as there is nothing we can do immediately about the size or smell, cause at the rate this island is growing Mt. Stinkmore will only get bigger with no plan to reduce it in sight. I say we sprinkle some grass seeds on the west side and take advantage of the rainy season, violla! a nice green cover, that way the cruisers will see something a little more appealing:)

  41. Anonymous says:

           Immediately…..Impact fee for future development, along with mandatory recyling for hotels and condos. As a hotel/condo employee, it made me sick to know the amount of trash my hotel generated with styrofoam and plastic. Why? Because they could. It was of benefit to their bottom line and they did and are still taking full advantage of it. " Corporate social responsibility "is most often a fairy tale to appease an uninformed public, in order to make them back off. Why do you think they sponsor some of these things? To trick us into making us think that they are good community partners, which could neever be further from the truth. all about about the $$$$$…

  42. Richard Wadd says:

     What a load of crock !! The Govt. KNOWS that we cannot even begin to afford what it will cost to solve this issue, but sheer GREED has caused this to continue to grow ….

    The FACTS is that the Govt. is holding out in the (mis-guided) belief that the land that the dump "sits on" is valuable, and so are its contents. One word sums-up that belief …. GARBAGE !!

    We don’t need a ‘Consultant’ to tell us what is obvious. The Cost to clean-up the dump FAR AND ABOVE EXCEEDS ANY VALUE that the property may have. No amount of scrap-iorn or Waste-to-energy can and will ever pay for the clean-up of 40 plus years of UN-MANAGED dumping. It is a wonder that there are ANY fish in the North Sound at all (anyone done a Water Quality Test around the Dump canals??)

    The ONLY solution is to get a Private Investor involved (with DEEP pockets), and say "….here, you can have the land for FREE, providing that you are willing to execute the following … blah blah blah.

    In the end, YES there will be waste to energy (we will benifit from this), but as Govt. can’t afford to implement it, the Private Sector will.

    And yes, the Technology does indeed exist, and has existed for decades, so a solution could have been had a LONG TIME AGO.

    THE JOB OF GOVT. is NOT to be directly involved in Businesses, but rather to Create and Nurture a business environment that will encourage Private Enterprise to grow.

  43. Anonymous says:

     Anyone notice that the blue building right infront is one of the largest banks in the world(do they know that this is the backdrop to their multi-million dollar building) – this is shameful and there is no excuse not to tackle this immediately.

  44. Anonymous says:

    I am surprised one of the candidates has not already suggested publicly sending the pile to the Brac!  Obviously digging a larger hole is not the answer.  When will government understand the environmental costs of tourism and poulation growth.  There are answers!

  45. Anonymous says:

    Holy cow!!   I had not idea this is what mount thrashmore looked like.  What a shock our cruise visitors must  receive when the get within seeing distance of our shores.  Seeing this makes me wonder: what kind of people are these who live among such waste and garbage?   And those are the thoughts of a local. Can you imagine what everyone else must be thinking about us.

    • Anonymous says:

      My experience of what a Tourist would say is something to the following:

      Look they said the Cayman Islands was flat, but look at that big beautiful mountain that no has built on as yet. We should buy some real estate!

  46. Caymanluvr says:

    What is the the address of the website with the pictures please.

  47. Anonymous says:

    And did the cruise ship passengers realize that most of the dump’s waste came from them???

    • Anonymous says:

      "And did the cruise ship etc.."

      What a stupid, stupid stupid ignorant post! Dear Lord Almighty-even our garbage is the fault of foreigners! As a Caymanian, I am embarrassed by this idiotic stuff. We need to get rid of these nasty foreigners and go back to smoke pots, thatch rope, mosquitoes  and wampums. Then we’ll be happy. No wonder expats laugh at our stupidity. And no wonder we can’t fill jobs held by expats when you read this sort of unbelievable idiotic nonsense written by us born Caymanians. God help us all.

  48. Anonymous says:

    Wow. if this is what the tourist see now imagine what they will see when Chucky brings in his massive Genesis Class cruise ships!!

    I guess this is the progress that the PPM don’t wan t us to stop!

  49. Anonymous says:

    Arden’s propsal to solve this problem through waste to energy is another collosal waste of public funds. Earth to Hard Head Arden….You can’t burn wet waste.

    You Kurt and the rest of PPM should stop trying to fool the people bout unna kno how to solve da problem. Wha dah hell unna solve yet? We nah no fool boy. Kurt can talk that foolishness ia a bar room but don’t bring it ya.

    Arden listen na Man you are no engineer and neither is your friend Ellio . So stop trying to fool us. 

    • Anonymous says:

      Agreed that this is a priority need. What we need to ask is why has it got to this state? The need could be seen from at least 20 years ago yet previous ministers & governments did not tackle this. At least the current Minister has begun the process which will take time to get right and then procure the funds to provide the results.

      If the CNS report is correct that "A number of candidates have said that the waste-to-energy plan will not address the whole dump and that much of it will still need to be incinerated", we need to really, really think about the intelligence/understanding of these candidates. Waste-to-energy is the actual incineration of garbage to produce heat which is then used to produce electricty. So anything that can be incinerated would be used and from what I understand the amount of items that can be incinerated continues to grow as the technology improves.

      We can also all do our part by not using things that have long a "dump life", e.g. foam, plastic, etc. I would suggest that the duty on bio-degradable products be reduced a bit and the duty on the bad items be increased a lot. Then we the users will simply use our wallets to control this.

  50. Anonymous says:

    disgraceful