McKenzie calls for probe into effects of dump fires

BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Observer senior reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, February 16, 2012

OPPOSITION spokesperson on urban renewal, rural development and local government, Desmond McKenzie wants the Government to investigate how fires at the Riverton City Landfill have impacted residents in and around the area.

McKenzie, also served as mayor of Kingston before he won the West Kingston parliamentary seat for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) last December, is also pushing for steps to be taken to reduce the frequency of fires at the site.

"There are about some 12,000 people living in some 1,600 houses in proximity to the landfill and about 50 per cent of them live in Riverton itself. I don't know how the member of Parliament for Western St Andrew (Anthony Hylton) looks at it but I know Riverton City as an extremely poverty-stricken community, which incidentally has always backed the current government 100 per cent," McKenzie told the House Tuesday.

"There is also New Haven, Callaloo Bed, Seaview Gardens and other sections of Spanish Town Road, Washington Boulevard and Six Miles, all of which are seriously affected by the fires at the landfill, but whatever their political allegiance these people are first Jamaicans and it is important during this year when we celebrate our 50th anniversary of Independence that we pay attention to their suffering , especially children and the elderly," McKenzie continued.

"We need to show these citizens that we are not ignoring their health issues but that we are sincerely committed to ensuring that things like constant fire at the landfill, which creates a smoke-filled environment across the Corporate Area and parts of St Catherine, is addressed with urgency," he emphasised.

Sections of the 100-acre landfill have been under flames since February 6 due to what authorities described as "natural landfill combustion". But the Opposition has maintained that the fires were deliberately set by politically aligned interests. The inferno -- which pumped toxic smoke for miles across the Corporate Area and sections of St Catherine, causing schools and business entities to close their doors -- is now said to be under control but has so far cost the country between $23 and 25 million, with projections that the figure could reach $60 million.

Tuesday, McKenzie said though there was no intention to politicise the matter, the administration was almost obliged to correct the situation.

Meantime, Local Government Minister Noel Arscott, in a statement to Parliament Tuesday, said that the smoke from the fires was "at tolerable to normal levels" and that the "second phase of smoke abatement underway" should be completed by tomorrow.

"All indications are that at the current pace, the smoke abatement process could be completed before the specified date," Arscott told the House.

He said the administration is pursuing a number of measures aimed at preventing recurrence and ensuring a far better managed landfill and disposal site. Among the measures, he said, are to identify an alternate site or relocate residents.

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McKenzie calls for probe into effects of dump fires