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PHILIPSBURG--The country will have to wait for some time more before a solution is implemented for the garbage mountain growing out of Great Salt Pond and looming over Philipsburg.
The much-talked about waste-to-energy plant appears to have stalled. The plant was a topic in last year’s hotly contested Parliamentary Elections and since then not much has been heard.
Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, asked about the project at the Council of Ministers Press Briefing on Wednesday, said “I wish I can give you a date. I, myself would love to have a date.†He said the process to come to the waste-to-energy plant is “much more complicated than it seems.â€
Changing of “players†at the company awarded the contract to build the plant was cited as a reason for the stagnation as well as utilities company GEBE becoming involved in the project.
The focus is now on “bringing tranquillity back†to GEBE and to have the company work with Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI to get the project moving again, said Gumbs.
“Review, finalise and execute the waste-to-energy plant†is one of the line items listed as a goal for VROMI by the United People’s (UP) led coalition in the “Ready to Work for You†Governing Programme.
The programme also called on the Gumbs’ Cabinet to organise a public awareness programme on waste management challenges and the need for sound management, the gradual introduction of garbage sorting at the source in homes and businesses, and commission a task force on climate change.
The cabinet is called on in the governing programme to study the possibility of introducing a “Bottle Bill†– a container deposit legislation that makes it mandatory for every aluminium can and plastic drink bottle to carry a refundable deposit.
