{"id":38029,"date":"2013-08-07T10:01:14","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T14:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=38029"},"modified":"2013-08-07T10:01:14","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T14:01:14","slug":"dumping-concerns-increase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2013\/08\/dumping-concerns-increase","title":{"rendered":"Dumping Concerns Increase"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Indiscriminate dumping is apparently on \u201can even larger scale now\u201d in the community, environmental officials at the Grand Bahama Port Authority Limited (GBPA) said during an interview with The Freeport News.<\/p>\n

City Manager for GBPA, Troy McIntosh noted that illicit dumping is not only a cause for public concern but it is a serious problem with a costly solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very expensive to clean that stuff up. I\u2019ve been here four years and the first three years, we would\u2019ve spent in excess of $30,000 per year cleaning up illegal dumps,\u201d McIntosh said.<\/p>\n

Among the most popular dumping \u201chot spots\u201d are easements on\/near Grand Bahama Highway, Mayfield Park, the Humane Society of Grand Bahama and the Grand Bahama Sports Complex.<\/p>\n

McIntosh said that the problem often occurs when residents who do not want to transport their waste to the landfill take shortcuts and dump large items in isolated easements near to their homes.<\/p>\n

In an effort to curb the issue, McIntosh said GBPA introduced a bulk waste service in March that provides transport of major appliances and yard waste to the Pine Ridge landfill for local residents that pay service charges to GBPA.<\/p>\n

This service is provided once a week from Monday to Wednesday with each residential area assigned a designated day.<\/p>\n

The service works efficiently, given residents follow all the requirements, McIntosh said, adding that since its inception there has been \u201ctremendous improvement\u201d in the bulk trash pick-up.<\/p>\n

Nakira Wilchcombe, environmental manager and chairperson for the Keep Grand Bahama Clean initiative, said that residents paying service charges to GBPA also have the option of taking their yard waste and bulk trash (not including construction debris) to the landfill at no cost.<\/p>\n

She added that there are several options for others wanting to dispose of bulk items at minimum costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sporadic, or the casual dumping certainly doesn\u2019t need to happen,\u201d Wilchcombe said.
\nShe urged residents and commercial companies to consider the \u201cwider impact\u201d indiscriminate dumping could have on the well-being of the community.<\/p>\n

Noting that it is hurricane season, Wilchcombe stressed the importance of keeping easements clear in the event that an emergency call for maintenance vehicles to access utility poles in those areas.<\/p>\n

Although environmental officials at GBPA continually appeal to the public, the littering and illicit dumping still persists.<\/p>\n

McIntosh and Wilchcombe agree that this reality makes maintaining the environment a \u201cdaunting\u201d task. Still, they continue their efforts, mainly through education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very important that our youngsters know the importance of keeping our environment clean\u2026 We are constantly trying to look at innovative ways to bring this message across so that people actually get it and it becomes a way of life,\u201d Wilchcombe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that it\u2019s everyone coming together, it\u2019s everyone\u2019s business, everyone\u2019s responsibility to keep our home clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

By: Nina Laing<\/span><\/em>
\nFreeport News Reporter<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indiscriminate dumping is apparently on \u201can even larger scale now\u201d in the community, environmental officials at the Grand Bahama Port Authority Limited (GBPA) said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38029\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}