Only Two Days Of Rain Overwhelms Greenland Dump Construction Site
The above photo was taken just after 3 pm on Tuesday 3 April 2007 at the excavated Landfill site at Greenland, St. Andrew, in the Scotland District National Park, Barbados.
Two inches of rain had fallen in the preceding 5 days followed by 1.75 inches on Monday night. Note the red construction machine in the background has had to cut a drainage trench to drain the water from the land-fill site. Water drains into the Greenland river to Green Pond on Morgan Lewis Beach then in the sea where currents flowing south to north take matter around the north point of Barbados onto the western coast of the island including the up-market Sandy Lane.
During this two days of rain, no work with machines was possible due to wet clay conditions.
Pollution Of Greenland River Has Already Started
Visible in the photo is a drain water ditch visible on the section on which the leachate pond is to be constructed. There is no mention of this drainage ditch on plans of the landfill construction as supplied to project bidders. One has to wonder what will happen when the site receives 10 or 20 inches of rain in 24 hours as often happens in this area. How will rain water and spring water be kept out of the landfill and prevented from overwhelming the leachate (drainage) system? There is nothing in the plans to address this issue – and the drainage ditch appears to be designed by a couple of guys at the construction site.
I can hear the conversation now…
“George, doan you see that the water be carryin’ everything into the middle of de construction site?”
“I see that, Dennis. Why don’t you just take your machine and run a ditch across that little ridge and that will take care of it. Make it so it drains into that there river.”
“OK boss!”
And so the two guys created that ditch that is now draining all construction runoff into the Greenland River.
Rain Causing Landslips At Greenland Dump Construction Site
In the larger photo, you can see a landslip on clay soil stock piled on west side of dump site. If our reporter had a better lens, you could see numerous incidents of small landslips at the construction site that occurred during this relatively common amount of rain.
This project is truly a disaster in progress
God help the poor folks who live between the dump and the sea – and also the fisherfolk on the east, north and northwest coasts. In a couple of years, the leachate from the Greenland Dump is going to pollute the entire east coast to the north of the river outlet to the sea. The beaches on the north west side of the island aren’t going to be so healthy either.
I’m no environmental engineer – but I can stand today at Greenland and watch it happening. Why are we doing this? Why aren’t we building a garbage-powered, electricity generating incinerator?
This must be about the value of lands near the existing dump. They want to “just do it” and damn the consequences to achieve as quick a solution as possible – so the value of the lands in question will rise in the short term. Just get that land money in NOW!
And to hell with the longterm good of the people of Barbados.
Above photo – enlargement of construction machine digging ditch to drain the Greenland Dump construction site into the river.
Barbados Free Press 
I’m NO big fan of the Greenland dump, let’s be clear on that, but the 1,000+ tons of garbage we all generate daily, has to go SOMEwhere!
Just NIMBY..not in my backyard.
Where,then?
Plumtree Quarry? Land reclamation project? where??
Let’s sheet-pile the mouth of beautiful Gay’s Cove, and back fill it with garbage.
In 20 yrs. time we have an extra 1 sq.mile added to the island for picnic spot! (is that you I hear screaming!)
Location, location
Moron, you are not listening
recycling and then incineration and then St Lucy where the land is more stable
You can watch before your very eyes, one of the impoundments for collecting water in the Scotland District spoken of in the Stanley Associates Water Resources Study being changed to use as a Landfill.
What you won’t see is the associated catchment area being rendered null and void as a catchment area for water.
No doubt you will find Government has changed the zoning of the Greenland Area from Zone 1 which appeared in the Physical Development plan of 1983, ….. this one was actually approved by parliament, to what ever zone will accommodate the landfill.
Yet, the Economic and Social Report of 2005 will show that the volume of water distributed by BWA has not risen since 1995, a fact that is in harmony with the prediction of the Stanley Associated Water resources Study of 1978, and the Senn Report of 1946 and the generally accepted statement that Barbados is water scarce.
It seems we even have garbage for Government?
I lived at Bathsheba as a boy and I know how unstable the Greenalnd area is. The slightest rain and the streeam down there become rivers. So what will happen is that the runoff will end up down in Long Pond and kill off everything that lives in that area as well as adjacent areas. This is thie most stupid place to put a landfill. I remember the amount of money previous Governments have spent trying to shore up the area.
Why didn’t they build an incinerator and burn the garbage and use theheat to generate power as we are doing up here in North America. Or is that too big a challenge for this Government.
Lowdown has been writing about this for years and no one is listening
The only natural area left in Barbados is now gone to the garbage
If that happened up here there would have been massive protest against it, or are Bjans too laid back to worry about it until it is too late
I moving soon!!!
I saw the front page of the Nation newspaper today and came to the conclusion that it is really the security guards (SGs) that enforce the law in Barbados. For the second time in as many months, security guards have been stopped lawmen from executing their duties.
The story first broke on the ‘notorious’ Brass Tacks (enemy #2 of the Barbados Government), then it hit front page news, where it was obvious that the spinning had started. I wonder how long the newspapers were sitting on this one.
What shocked me about the story is that this was not the first time, that police have been turned back!!!!! Even more amazing is that court notices, to residents, werent executed!!!!!!!! Am I the only bajan in stun mode right now? Does the same thing happen at Port St.Charles?
Well of course, the enterprising guy that I am, I plan to put some gates at the top of my gap and hire couple SGs to… well…. ya know. Within a few months, I plan to expand and set up ‘gated communities’ in the Pine, Silver Hill, Orleans, etc.
Ok… on a serious note. I think Noel Lynch will be happy to be out of the firing line, cause I hope BFP gets all over this story – you can deal with the private hospital later.
In my opinion, if these “Gated Communities” are private property, get rid of them, because we dont need another Strathclyde or Belleville.
Bakefowl
See my post re this issue under Nation News Robert Best. I have expounded on it at great length, so I won’t go there now. Man I haven’t heard the word Bakefowl for a long time. Good for you
I cannot believe that the residents of Millenium heights would want to prevent police from entering the compound. They should have arrested the security guard and gained access. Police have to follow the law, but if they suspect a crime is taking place, then the have the right to enter private property.
BakeFowl,
You’re brilliant, dude!
I absolutely LOVE your idea re.
“expand and set up ‘gated communities’ in the Pine, Silver Hill, Orleans, etc.”
This is the perfect counter-move to The Whites wanting/needing their little Gated Communities!
Black Peoples An’ Dem can now set up their own Gated Communities to keep out The Whites – HA!
I think it’s a splendid idea that we create Gated Communities out of New Orleans, Bayland, Pine Housing Area, Silver Hill, Gall Hill, Silver Sands!
Think of the added status such progress would bring to the area, keeping all That Lot contained within their own prestigious Gated Community
all the while keeping those hated Whites out!!
Why didn’t I think of this??
This way we can have both white gated communities and black gates communities,
and everyone would be happy, not so?
Tit for Tat.
Equal rights for colour prejudiced communities of a feather, flocking together.
As far as I know there are least 2 black families living at Millenium Heights pls do not lets bring colour into this! The police cannot be prevented from carrying out their duties and the Management Company at MH should be charged with obstruction of justice, suppose that someone at lost their life.
Sheer Genius
My comments were an attempt at scarcasm. I was talking about keeping the POLICE out – solely for criminal reasons.
Nevertheless,Bakefowl, your comments hit upon a perfect solution to the big “controversy” over Gated Communities.
I now call for residents of The Pine and other ‘melanistically-enhanced’ neighbourhoods
to set up their own Gated Communities, to keep out undesirables(including the Police?) !!
Thank you,once again.
Bakefowl & Sheer Genius
A neat way to divert this thread away from its original theme – the disgrace that is Greenland. So neat, in fact, that I think that you may have been set up to do it. Perhaps “Yardfowl” would be a more apt name. Fellow bloggers should be aware that the more that this site attracts attention, the more of this type of thing will go on, with party “stooges” employed to divert attention away from the real issues. Unfortunately for everyone in Barbados, the Greenland disaster will not go away. You don’t have to be a Barbados Scholar to figure out that heavy equipment will not be able to cover garbage with clay in these conditions. It is quite likely that garbage may be allowed to pile up without being covered for weeks in the rainy season. The result will most likely see an “emergency” opening of a new cell at Mangrove Pond to “tide us over”. What then for the Green Monkey billion dollar investment?
Peltdownman may I ask your indulgence for a couple of sentences.
The situation at Millenium heights is a joke.
The policeman could have insisted on entering the area if need be he could have forced his way pass the guard, if the guard obstructed or prevented him from executing his lawful duty, the guard could have been arrested, that would soon put a stop to all this nonsense.
A warrant would only have been required to enter a private residence, in the situation as I understand it the police were called to the residence so this would not have applied.
However if the police had reasonable grounds to believe that the law was being broken in response to a call to the residence concerned, he could have entered the premises.
The police are being made to look like fools, we need to respect the police, this nonsense must stop.
maybe I am missing something but the topic at hand was the continued intentional and criminal willfulness of elected officials to spend millions of taxpayers dollars to poison our rivers and ocean not the intimidation of our police force by a security guard at a gated community entrance?
Assuming we had an independent police force, one problem could be fixed by a simple phone call to the Commissioner of Police asking him to exercise the law fairly across the board.
The other may take generations to fix and at enormous costs to our pockets and health. Owen and his 40 tiefs will be long gone by then..
The systematic poisoning of the Barbadian soil, water, people, animals and plants leads me to believe that most of the current politicians plan to retire overseas with their ill-gotten gains to a country with a more responsible/less reprehensible government. No wonder the number of people with cancer seems to be sky-rocketing.
Kathy
The rate is going very high, but not due to a plan to systematically oison us.
The single most protective thing anyone can do is to have a water filter for cooking and drinking water, or better still, a reverse osmosis system, for clean water.
A diet of fast foods is rich in fats, and this also appears to be a recipe for cancer and chronic diseases, like heart disease, diabetes, and others.
Packaged foods with preservatives is another. If a person eats a diet of things like hot dogs and nuggets, with all their additives, as their main dish, this cannot be a good thing. Natural fish of meat would be better, so long as it contains no oestrogens, which are proven to multiply the risk of cancer too.
Corn curl type foods are another area to eliminate.
We eat less fruit and vegetables. They’re too expensive!!
Our problem is that we are moving away from a traditional, home-cooked diet to a “modern-day” type one. Consequently our average age is fast going down, and the mortality rate going up.
”A diet of fast foods is rich in fats, and this also appears to be a recipe for cancer and chronic diseases, like heart disease, diabetes, and others.”
But yet we keep subway, which produces healthier options, out.
Why.
Ho, ho who really control de country?
Roy Morris’ article on the centre pages of the Weekend Nation May 18th 2007 started out by itemising the numerous areas of land in Barbados that he suggested is covered in bush.
This ‘bush’ represents areas of bio diversity; something that we are informed is crucial to a balanced environment. Land left idle is far from a waste as it holds onto the soil and maintains it’s potential for rejuvenation as agricultural land.
Humanity also holds this potential and should not be judged as useless because for the moment some may be idle. We need idle land as much as we need productive land. It is difficult to appreciate one without the other. this appreciation leads us to love both, rather than fear the one that is yet to be returned to productive use.
Peace