Mini incinerators for waste management are 'nonsense'- Hon Penn
A proposed plan by former Health Minister Hon Carvin Malone (AL) for mini incinerators to tackle the current waste management issues being experienced in the [British] Virgin Islands (VI) was recently shut down by Minister for Health Hon Marlon Penn (R8).
According to Incumbent District Nine Representative Hon Vincent O. Wheatley, plans to order 4 incinerators based on recommendations made by consultancy company Wood Group UK Limited were stopped by Hon Penn.
Landfill fires at Pockwood Pond on Tortola are frequent.
Mini incinerators are 'nonsense'- Hon Penn
Speaking after residents of the First District turned up at the House of Assembly (HoA) on Monday, April 17, 2023, to protest the constant landfill fires at Pockwood Pond last weekend, Hon Penn referred to such moves as ‘band-aid’ fixes which he claimed are not helping the issue.
“You hearing talks about mini incinerators, don’t be fooled about that nonsense. Those things have a capacity of 60 tonnes combined. The waste capacity of the plant itself is over 150 tonnes per day. So you’re going to spend one point something million dollars to bring in equipment that cannot work? That cannot fix the problem it’s only going to compound the problem…I don’t want to do any kind of patchwork fix to the problem because I know the people of the Virgin Islands deserve better than that,” Hon Penn said.
After a handful of residents of the First
District decided to turn up at the House of Assembly (HoA) on April 17,
2023, to protest the frequent open burning at Pockwood Pond, Minister
for Health and Social Development Hon Marlon A. Penn (R8), 3rd from
right, responded with an apology and a promise to resolve the issues
promptly.
New plant being sourced- Hon Penn
While apologising to the residents, he noted that instead, a new incineration plant is being sourced to serve as a backup plan.
“We’re in the process of getting an additional plant for redundancy. So you’ll have two…in case something happens with one of them, there’s redundancy in place to deal with the issue in a comprehensive way,” Hon Penn pointed out.
He also stated that he will be looking at having an engineered landfill at the same area where the fires took place and to introduce recycling to deal with the issues.
It is unclear what the new plant will cost taxpayers.
In the meantime, residents of the First District and some in the Third District have no choice but to continue living with the effects of the almost daily landfill fires.
