ABACO, BAHAMAS — The Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA) is advising residents of Abaco to report unauthorized dumping and foraging at Great Abaco Sanitary Landfill, located on Snake Cay Road, in the wake of a large fire that continues to burn at the site.
Thomasina Wilson, senior deputy director, Department of Environmental Health Services in collaboration with the DRA, noted that the Snake Cay site had been created in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian to be used as a temporary holding site for debris until the government could prepare a proper waste management site.
However, she added that the debris was never removed as “the necessary resources have not yet been put in place” and as a result, debris accumulated beyond the temporary site’s intended capacity as people kept dumping their waste even after the launch of the main debris management site in Spring City.
“People enter the Snake Cay site after hours for unauthorized purposes when the main debris management site is closed,” Wilson said.
“Many are foraging and burning fires at this prohibited site even after being instructed to cease these activities. As anticipated, this behavior eventually leads to situations like the fire that is burning today.”
She urged the public to stop contributing to the problem through the indiscriminate dumping of waste and debris at the prohibited site, as “we are all stewards of the environment”, and to report any unauthorized or suspicious site activities to the authorities by calling 911 or 919.
Assistant Chief Timothy McDonald of the Marsh Harbour Volunteer Fire and Rescue confirmed suspicions that “the fire was likely intentionally started by people searching for copper”.
“Due to the volume of compacted debris, we don’t believe that simply dumping water from our fire trucks will be able to put it out,” he explained.
“So, we have mobilized a bulldozer to dig fire lines around the burning area to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to other areas.
“There’s a real possibility of this fire spreading to the surrounding bushy areas or even spreading to other sites. There are a lot of people burning fires throughout the island, and there needs to be an immediate crackdown on this behavior as it puts us all at risk.”
McDonald echoed Wilson’s call for residents to report fires by contacting the Marsh Harbour Volunteer Fire and Rescue by calling 577-2000, by contacting him directly at 577-1221 or by contacting Fire Chief Danny Sawyer at 477-5901.
DRA Projects Director Wendell Grant stressed that when fires and other hazardous situations emerge due to human interference and non-compliance, other disaster recovery efforts are affected.
“Whenever we use resources, be it human or monetary, to put out fires and address other hazards as a result of non-compliance on the part of residents, we must accommodate these unexpected expenses,” he said.
“The end result is that other recovery efforts are inevitably impacted due to this completely avoidable situation, if only people would follow the rules.”
Grant highlighted that as the DRA prepares to relaunch its Small Home Repair Programme and the dome housing project, it is vital that resources go towards providing housing and other assistance for the victims of Hurricane Dorian. However, as such fires are an environmental and health hazard for the people of Abaco, the government must get involved in order to prevent a bad situation from becoming worse.
DRA officials reminded the public that trash burning is illegal and poses a serious environmental and health hazard, as it pollutes the air and can quickly spread to other areas.
“The continued recovery and rebuilding of Abaco depends not only on the DRA and government initiatives but on the cooperation of all Abaconians to ensure that progress is made and regulations are followed,” it noted.
