BT dump coalition puts pressure on MLAs
(CNS): The Coalition to Keep Bodden Town Dump Free is cranking up its campaign against plans to establish a new landfill in their district and is reminding the two United Democratic Party representatives that it was the people in the district that voted them into office and not the Dart Group. Hoping to meet with the MLAs this week a spokesperson for the collation said the group had been bolstered by the growing support across the island as well as support from the PPM members of the LA and the independent member for North Side. Meanwhile, the district’s government representatives have stated that they support moving the dump despite their constituents concerns as the MLAs say they will all be addressed. (Photo Kerry Horek)
Speaking to Cayman27 Monday, UDP backbencher Dwayne Seymour said that when he first heard that Bodden Town was the area that had been identified for the new landfill he was concerned too but after he and his constituency colleague checked it out they decided it was “heading in the right direction and…we gave assent to what we thought would be an improved waste-management facility.”
Mark Scotland said that he and his colleague were in a difficult position as people may say ‘is that all you are doing for Bodden Town’ but he said that he was confident the concerns would be addressed in the end. The technical people in government are working alongside Dart’s technical people, Scotland said and the new facility will be nothing like the George Town dump.
“I can understand the public’s concerns because the only thing they have now to compare is the existing dump in George Town,” he said but the new site would be completely different.
Seymour said the issue is a national project not a Bodden Town issue but as the third elected member for the district with only 36% of the vote in the last election and less than 18 months away from the next Seymour is sitting in the district’s most vulnerable seat.
Vincent Frederick, the spokesperson for the to Keep BT Dump Free Coalition intends to impress upon the district’s members that the people of Bodden Town do not want a new landfill and will be reminding them who put them in office.
“The agreement with Dart to relocate the dump in Midland Acres is a threat to Bodden Town, to its people, its environment and its future, but government has completely failed to consult Bodden Towners,” he said. “Although a meeting with Mr Seymour and Mr Scotland is no substitute, it will give us another chance to demand that they represent their constituents, defend their district, and give voice to those who voted for them. They were not elected by Dart.”
Arden McLean who is also endorsing the project and was the former minister with responsibility for the dump said that the previous government had spent considerable sums building the infrastructure at the present landfill for sorting and recycling facilities and to establish a waste-to-energy project that would have reduced the existing dump by converting the trash into power to be sold to CUC. Other experts have told the coalition that it is impractical to move the landfill especially so far from where most of the islands’ waste is generated in George Town and West Bay.
The dump move is part of the ForCayman Investment Alliance which government is negotiating with the Dart group. Overriding the previous decision of the public works ministry’s technical team and the tender award to the US based firm Wheelabrator, for the waste-to-energy project, the premier announced in January that Dart would be given the existing dump on crown land to cap and remediate. In the summer he revealed that it would become part of a much bigger investment swap with the developer which would include the land swap in Midland Acres and that Dart would pay for the development of what it has stated will be a modern state of the art facility and eco-park.
See Cayman27video here
Category: Local News
Why not proceed with building a modern-day waste to energy facility at the present GT dump site? Just lease back some of the land from DART to build the facility, reduce the "eyesore", smell and pollution and its a win-win.
If DART is truly For Cayman, it should not matter where the planned modern day WTE facility is built, should it?
Public funds were already spent on buildings at the present landfill in George Town as part of an infrastructure for proper sorting and recycling facilities. There is enough space and the means at the GT landfill for its proper management and for eliminating Mount Trashmore. Why do we absolutely want to move the dump, and why in BT? Why are we wasting public funds again? The island needs fill and energy. Let's be smart for once and make proper use of Mount Trashmore instead of creating another pile of trash elsewhere.
I live in Bodden Town, own other property in BT, hence I should be qualify to add my two cent to this project. People need to look further than their nose; I dont see a "dump" coming to Bodden Town, what I see a technology driven modern day waste management facility being place in BT; which will create finanical gains to our district.
I wonder if these people who are objecting have taken the time to drive around their neighborhood and look at the condition how some people keep their yards; if they did they would know that we have several "dumps" in Bodden Town already. I cringe when I look at the debris that are placed at the roadside to be collected in the annual DEH Clean Up Drive; how can people have those things lingering in their yards for at least a year, when the dump in George Town is open 24 hours – beat me. Then have the nerve to object to this project.
I dont need to remind the many Bodden Towners the objection we had when the Prison was proposed for Northward; well look around and tell me how much has the presence of the prison devaluated properties in that area; we should use sleep and mark death and learn from these experiences.
I have a suggestion; if these objectionist care so much about Bodden Town and the Cayman Islands, then they should start a petition for those who are in support as well, at the end of the campaign present both petition and let the chips fall were they may. Until they are able to do this I do not want to hear from anyone obejcting any projects on this island; after all the islands is for all of us who residence here, not just these career objectionist.
How can you cynically call the proposed BT dump a "technology driven modern day waste management facility" when we know for a fact that the only improvement from the GT dump will be to dig several pits instead of a single one, and inserting a plastic liner in each? Dart admits that it'll have nothing to do with managing the dump in BT once it's handed over to government. What's our guarantee that the dump will be properly managed?
Even if the dump was going to be a higg-tech waste management, there is no road infrastructure to support the extra truckloads of garbage. Because of traffice noise, residents on the main road already have problems sleeping, and they have to scream at each other when trying to have a neighbourly conversation. Moreover, because of the heavy traffic on such a narrow road, residents cannot enjoy a quiet walk at any time of the day.
Who are you to say that you don't want to hear anyone's objections? Every resident has been asked to speak up by the government itself. And rather than being an hindrance, having people with a critical mind, who can object when they feel injustice, is necessary for a healthy debate and society.
What about approximatly 200+ trucks making the trip to the dump everyday….oh wait and then they have to make the return trip.Do you think Bodden Town has roads capable of all that traffic?What happens to thos who live within earshot of all that traffic?
Wow! Wow! I couldn't believe the nerves of those two when I saw the news clip on tv!! What an audacity they have! They are so into this deal and do not CARE about the Bodden Towners because if they did they would had discussed with them first but we will ALL see soon enough who would wished they had jumped up and down and listened to the people who voted them in. I just can't understand why NO one has a backbone to stand up to some of these unnecessary decisions in their party.
The same thing can be done right where it's at now, however they're too naive to see it just because the decisions was made to sell the property to the giant. It makes me seriously wish I had owned a quarry or a business that depended heavy on materials.
Time will tell and I can hardly wait! I'm not a Bodden Towner but anxious to sign the petition. Mr Frederick stand up for what you believe in and I know them Bodden Towners sorry long time as I feel and know you would had stand up for your people. We need see the petition in action asap.
I can see the trails of trucks going through the narrow roads because for what I heard they need certain property for a new road to go through which WILL NOT be for sale. Thank God!! and by then we would had said good riddings to this Government who didn't listened to the people at all.
Please remember our God is large and is incharge and its not over as he sees and knows every deeds and action for all of us..
So Disgusted and Fed up of the Jokers!!
WOW! Great job being disgusted, fed up, and self absorbed. Keep Cayman third world!!!!
for once, can cayman make the sensible decision…. instead of pandering to small minded nimbys!!!!
Dart is the biggest NIMBY His wanting the dump movedout of his backyardoved is why all this is coming down! Everything he has on the table it to increase his fortune. And government is buying into this like he is a God. What we do know is that for this government Money is God. Mac himself said Cash is King. Not love or care for the for the people.
the current dump is in the back yard of 80% of the island's population and the backyard of every tourist who visits cayman!!!!!!!!……and some people think this is ok??
Dart's properties are usually upwind of the dump. Best place to get a wiff and a good view is on the cruise ships. It's pretty obvious that Dart can live with the existing situation just fine. All you Dart haters need to come up with a solution. A high tech incinerator might be the ticket to get rid of Mt Trashmore, but y'all hated that idea too.
Unfortunately there are to many people living on Cayman that see a large pile of trash as "treasure". they don't want to get rid of it. The really hate the idea of getting rid of the large pile of treasure they can see from almost anywhere on island. And they control most of the votes.
I am going to risk being beat about the mouth and gums as I have not given this issue a good study.
The entire island has been depositing their unwanted "stuff" in GT for decades; it only seems fair that some other district take watch for a while. With that being said, I would say that I wouldn't want it in my back yard either.
Given the need to lessen the environmental impact of our existence, I would think that the ultimate motivation would be for each district to have their own local waste management facility, where the advantages of responsible disposal and recycling would preserve the immediate and surrounding location, and the abuse and neglect would show its ugly head just as well. The advantages of this type of system are massive and would keep this disastrous situation we find ourselves in from ever happening again.
18:22 fine enough, each district to have it's own waste facility, but, are these same big mouth objectonist going to pay to have their garbage picked up.
As I can recall the Government had to increase import duties to off set the the garbage collection fees, because certain people refused to pay for this service.
Let me say this, give me this country one week and I would show all youobjectionist where to flapper your big mouth. I can promis you one thing, your garbage would stink at your front door.
Caymanians, we have to start paying for our services. Bodden Towners, If this waste facility is done right, it will bring lots of opportunities to your district,. stop letting these farce political hopeful mislead you, and brainwash you. Do your own study. Most of these objectionist dont have a clue what they are saying. They are so blinded with hate for Mr.Dart's money, and Makeeva's brilliance and forsight…
How can you dare say that the dump will bring opportunities to our community? Bodden Town doesn't have the road infrastructure to support the extra truckloads of garbage that will be passing daily. Far from bringing development, the dump will stop the possibilties for future tourism development on the main road — smell, noise, not being able to walk, etc. It will also prevent new residential projects from being developed. This has nothing to do with hating Dart. It has todo with protecting a beloved community.
Garbage in. Garbage out.
According to Ezzard ONLY Dart will benefit from the dump being moved to Bodden Town. In his typically unbalanced view / desperate attempt to lure the support of the ignorant, he cant seem to admit the following may also benefit : The Caymanian kids who attend CIS, the Caymanians who live and work in Camana Bay, Caymanians who live and work anywhere within smell of the dump. The Caymanians who own land and businesses surrounding the dump in Industrial Park. The dump in George Town, Industrial Park, Seven Mile Beach and even miles out at sea.
Hopefully I won't be accused of being anti-Caymanian when I say giving the dump to Dart will not only help Dart and Caymanians, but God Forbid expats and our tourism industry as well.
Ezzard we love that you cannot be corrupted. We love that you stand and fight for what is right. We see quite clearly the good half of Ezzard Miller. However, then comes the other half of unbalanced views, lack of solutions and belittling of Caymanians by thinking we are so ignorant not to see through your tactics. Nothing is ONLY Dart, ONLY Caymanian, ONLY expat.
I listened to Ezzard's dump rant on the radio as well and it is so misguided that it saddens me for those people who look to him for help and guidance.
16:43… well said.
To all you Caymanians, have you ever heard Ezzard ever agreeing with anything this Government try to do for this country, and its people….just think about it…and think hard…we all suppose to have a brain to think for ourselves. stop being brainwashed.
would Dart be so keen to move it if they hadnt built a school next door? correct me if i'm wrong, but wasnt it there before camana bay? its not like its a big surprise that there's a dump beside all their land! why create a 2nd one? why not simply fix the current one and employ the new wonder-technology there…rather than have 2 (i know, 1 will be 'closed')….just seems a shame to have to have 2
not against dart for the sake of it…just think this move is open to question and perhaps some real experts (i'm not one) could share with us all why the super technology cannot work on/nearby the current location instead of having another dump site elsewhere…the roads are so dangerous as is, now we're going to have all the dumpsters/etc racing off to BT laden down with garbage? i dont know…….
It is a situation of the WIN – WIN variety. Yes Dart will benefit but so will all of Cayman. The situation at the current landfill is a mess and politicians have been talking about it for years.
The necessary road improvement will be done and 5 years from now you will wonder why this concerned you so much. Don't let the fear mongers control you. This landfill will be set up by Dart and it will be properly managed.
There is a group in Cayman that run around constantly crying that, "The sky is falling…The sky is falling." Do not believe them.
Get the dump moved to BT before May 2013 or you have lost my votes and the 27 others I control in my family.
I would say that's better than losing several hundred votes from Bodden Town, Hitler.
People need to stop being so up-tight.
I am from Bodden Town and I don't mind.
This will not be a DUMP – but a Waste Facility Mgmt center.
Google the difference.
It will perhaps even provide BT with some economic stimulus.
IGNORANCE!
I applaud you. The solution is to do the job right this time. Forcing high standards will create opportunity.
11:01
Thank you for your common sense sugestion.
This waste facility will bring opportunites to the district. My only wish that i could afford to give each one of these objectionist a trip off Island to witness how this is done, to see the many jobs it would create. The Bible is so true…"for the lack of knowledge my people shall perish" God please help them to understand, what one is capable of, when one is trying to grab power. Men have killed their very own son for it.
Who is spoon feeding you?
Knowing the history behind the dump and other government run waste ventures in Cayman what currently makes you believe that the proposed waste management facility in BT will be better managed than the existing dump or more PC "the GT landfill"? Why have previous governments failed miserably in their responsibility to provide Cayman with a world-class waste management solution? Examine the history of the dump.
When the current site of theGeorge Town landfill started out as just a convenient dumping ground in the middle of the swamp elected officials neither had any incentive, motivation or foresight to rectify the mode of operation. The "dump it in the swamp and burn it" approach was a cheap, effective solution and a universally accepted practise in the region.
As Cayman's population and prosperity grew so did the dump. But it was still hidden and out of sight. Fees for self-dumping were non existent and garbage fees were regarded by many as something one shouldn't have to pay. After all, then swampland had little or no value.
The GT dump site was never designed, or for the most part operated anything like a sanitary landfill but by the early 80's it could have been economically remodelled as one. In the 80's overseas money and investment came to the island hard and fast but this still didn't provide incentive or moral obligation for government to provide a responsible waste management infrastructure.
By the early 90's with the dump fast rising out of the swamp several consultants from North America were hired to study the situation, but their recommendations were ether too costly to implement or regarded as a pipe dream and their reports were subsequently sent to the dump. Every successive minister in charge of the solid waste either side stepped or differed the issue. At least by the 90's the problem was somewhat recognized by setting capacity limits on the existing dump but these were continually exceeded and revised and no comprehensive solutions were ever implemented.
From this it is obvious that until there is a monumental driving force for change both in general public and government sentiment towards garbage then little will be done. Instead of diverting public taxes, tariffs, stamp duties, or what ever you want to call it to dealing with the total problem we will always have a dump of some sorts. And even if a private company such a Wheelabrator designs, builds a waste management facility they will have to return. This will be some not for profit or charity run enterprise. To add, our governmenthas a virgin track record with public private partnership deals and unless this is a joint effort it is not likely to succeed. The likely scenario will be a much higher garbage fee, tipping fees and very stiff enforcement, all of which are sadly needed to make this work.
The bottom line is Dart does not want to get into the waste management business and will not be operating the proposed new waste management facility. Therefore it will be still in the hands of government to strike a sustainable deal with a specialized private waste management entity to see this process through for the long haul. Government in turn will be required to enact new legislation, implement stiff enforcement and maybe even provide concessions to govern, manage and sustain private waste operators. And lets hope that future waste operations and facilities are run like a tight ship and do not adversely affect the public.
If this new, well thought out dump is going to be noting like the GT dump, then why move it to Bodden Town?
Dart Group should be only to proud to show the community they can fix the problem and prove that they can live, work and play next to a dump.
Then perhaps the Bodden Town people would be happy to get dump #2 in years to come.
Unless I have missed something the proposed site for the new landfill is not that close to "historic" Bodden Town.
The modern methods of establishing and running a waste disposal facility are nothing like the existing George Town landfill so maybe instead of protesting for the sake of disagreeing with something it would be worthwhile getting to know the facts.
The existing facility has long outlived it capacity and a new location HAS to be found. The alternative is to stop generating garbage by returning to subsistence living or exporting our garbage at considerable cost and most people won't even pay the existing low rate that DEH tries to collect.
The photo of the George Town dump as seen by every person from every cruise ship speaks loudly to me.
Now the anti Boddentown dump forces are trying to convince people the current dump is fine. Goodness when will things move forward in this country. Now it seems there is a strong anti-Dart movement trying to convince everyone that Dart will make a fortune capping this current dump as the land is so valuable. My god look at that photo do you want that land?
Lets put a moratorium on everything and just stop everything going forward because someone will disagree with everything anyway.
Please let sanity prevail and move the landfill to Boddentown.
Does Mark and John John really not want to get back in? I mean seriously, I campaigned for them and now I get this. I have steam coming out of my ears.
That would be “do” they want to get back in, and perhaps the answer is yes. But maybe they also know as Useless Damn Politicians (that would be UDP) they won’t, so, perhaps they threw those aspirations of greatness aside and are actually doing something for the good of the country, not just themselves… Unlike the Undeniably Dictatorial Pric… Ok, you see where I am heading here…
UDP = DART
UDP = CHEC
UDP <> CAYMAN
UDP = RYAN. Yet when the PPM were in power they very much attended any and every event Ryan put on. Don't waste your life on the color of a tie. Its still a tie attached to the neck of one of the worst kind of human being – a modernday politician.
I don't know that events they attended and I don't see what that has to do with the issue but I do know that they insisted that Ryan pay the instalments on his $6m debt to govt. which promptly stopped June, 2009 as soon as Mckeeva was in power.