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Clear skies at former Pockwood Pond dump site
The new incinerator, which has the capacity to burn 100 tonnes of waste per day, has been in operation and the usual pile up of trash outside of the area has disappeared.
Virgin Islands News Online visited the site yesterday Thursday November 17, 2011 and there are no visible signs of recent burning at the former dump site.
VINO understands that Minister for Health and Social Development Hon. Ronnie Skelton had visited the site on Wednesday November 16, 2011.
In a comment issued to Virgin Islands News Online regarding the status of the incinerator, the Ministry said there is still some work to be done for final completion of the incinerator’s operation but they were pleased with the progression of works so far.
Employees at the site also verified that the incinerator has been burning all the waste that reaches the site thus there is hardly any pile left lying around on the outside of the building which was once a trend.
“The incinerator works straight for four days, then we let it cool off to clean and maintain and restart again,” said an employee.
The incinerator was operational during this news agency’s visit, and a backhoe was seen loading trash into the burning furnace.
While it was reported that there was a short down time since it started working in September, the incinerator so far is proving to bring the much needed relief to the garbage pile up but more so, the smoke from the external burning that not only affected local residents but those in the US Virgin Islands.
One very pleased resident in the west end area told this news agency that she was very happy to see the “clear skies” whenever she looks over at the site and hopes it remains that way. The resident who was previously affected by the smoke from the burning said now she can breathe a sigh of relief.
Workers at the Department of Motor Vehicle, located in the vicinity, were also complaining about the effects of the smoke but now they too are pleased with the latest developments.
The open burning on the Western end of Tortola had been a vexing issue for both local residents and residents of the United States Virgin Islands for a long time, especially those on St. John’s Coral Bay.
As for the Coral Bay residents, they too may be relieved as the matter had even reached the US State Department with the USVI Governor John P de Jongh Jr. having to step it and was given assurances that the problem would have been rectified in September.
In an article published in the St. Thomas Source on January 4, 2011 titled “Tortola dump fire has St. John residents fuming”, several residents of St. John had expressed their frustration with the open fire and one resident even suggested that they take the matter to the United Nations.
During the Christmas holidays last year, the external burning was producing black smoke which was as a result of items getting into the dumpsite that were not supposed to be there.
In a statement that was issued by Governor de Jongh on March 10, 2011, he had stated, “Our friends in the British Virgin Islands must responsibly process their waste. It is unfair for the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands, specifically residents of St. John, to have their air quality diminished by the actions of a neighbouring country”.
Meanwhile, on January 27, 2011, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Development Petrona Davies had confirmed to VINO that the new incinerator at Pockwood Pond which is expected to address the open burning concerns, would have been completed by late August to early September 2011.
“We are very much concerned for those persons who are affected,” Mrs. Davies had told VINO outlining that the health ministry would have had community discussions with all those who were affected on the island of Tortola, mainly residents of the 1st and 3rd Districts.
The Governor, who was in the Virgin Islands for the Fourth Inter-Virgin Islands Council (IVIC) meeting which had taken place on May 12 had said, “What was especially gratifying in addition to law enforcement is to be able to hear the Ministry talk about the addressing of the Pockwood Pond incinerator. That has been a tremendous concern for the people of St. John and to hear that there is a process that will result in it being completed the early part of the summer, I think is both gratifying to us but also I must commend the BVI for taking on an issue to address electricity and the waste within the community in a way that is creative.”
Once fully operational, the new incinerator will be able to process 100 tonnes of waste with an average life expectancy of ten years from the date of operation.
When combined with the existing incinerator unit, the plant waste processing capacity will increase to 140 tonnes a day.
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