Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 01/Oct 08:29

Swaratsingh: Beetham landfill must be closed

PLANNING and Development Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh says Trinidad and Tobago has a climate-change agenda. He also repeated a call made under previous governments to close the Beetham Landfill. He made these comments during an interview on TTT on September 29. Referring to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's address at the 80th UN General Assembly in New York on September 26. Swaratsingh said Persad-Bissessar's comments should not be interpreted to mean TT is opposed to climate change. "It is not that we do not have a climate agenda." He said the point Persad-Bissessar was making is the need for balance in pursuit of this agenda. Swaratsingh added TT is committed to its regional and international obligations where climate change is concerned. He said it was a matter of finding "an approach that makes sense for TT from both an economic and an environmental perspective." Swaratsingh added the ministry is looking at several ways to preserve the environment. After lamenting there is a level of indiscipline with respect to garbage disposal in TT, Swaratsingh said development of an integrated garbage policy needs to be explored. He added this approach would involve the safe and proper disposal of all types of garbage. With respect to the Beetham Landfill, Swaratsingh said, "We need at some stage to shut down that landfill." He added the only bonafide landfill in TT is located in Forres Park, Claxton Bay. "The Beetham is a dump, it's not a landfill." Swaratsingh said waste which leaks from the Beetham Landfill affects the nearby mangroves. He added the smell from the landfill is so offensive, people entering Port of Spain have to keep their vehicle windows closed. Swaratsingh made no comments about government's plans with respect to any of the country's landfills. Under the former PNM administration, there was a proposal advanced by the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) in July 2023 to close and rehabilitate the Beetham and Guanapo Landfills. Then-public utilities minister (now Opposition Chief Whip) Marvin Gonzales said the intention was to develop a sustainable solid waste management system for TT, and part of this process would involve (establishing) one sanitary-engineered landfill and repurposing the other landfills. Gonzales also said there was an intention to transform SWMCOL into a national entity with the responsibility for managing, recycling and disposing municipal solid waste in TT. In her address to the 80th UN General Assembly on September 26, Persad-Bissessar warned against the weaponisation of the climate change agenda. "The antagonistic approach adopted by climate activists towards the implementation of their climate agenda does more harm than good," she said. Persad-Bissessar said developed countries cannot force-feed a climate agenda onto developing countries and blackmail them into co-operation. She claimed, "That is exactly what has been happening where the access to financial systems, media platforms, new technologies and development funding has been weaponised in order to coerce compliance with climate goals. Persad-Bissessar acknowledged there is a space for renewable energy. But she added, "The fact remains that fossil fuels are essential for our continued survival." TT, Persad-Bissessar continued, will within reason support actions to protect the environment for future generations. She suggested independent nations must be free to create a climate policy that is crafted to balance their development goals and poverty eradication policies with environmental protection. The post Swaratsingh: Beetham landfill must be closed appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.