OPPOSITION spokesman on finance and planning, Audley Shaw, has warned that the frequency of fires at the Riverton City dump in Kingston could affect growth projections.

Shaw told the House of Representatives, during the budget debate on Tuesday, that the fire shows that in considering growth strategies, the country has to be careful that it doesn’t do things that subtract from growth, which is what the Riverton fire will do.

“At last count, hundreds of Jamaicans showed up at the health facilities with respiratory issues. Foreign investors will think twice about investing in the Corporate Area,” Shaw cautioned.

“I want to ask of the government: was the Riverton fire sabotage or gross negligence?” Shaw questioned.

He recalled that Minister of the Environment Robert Pickersgill had made a commitment to provide funds to correct the management problems at the dump, without fulfilling it.

He said that moving the dump without correcting the underlying problem of good management would only cause another fire in another location.

Shaw also questioned why all the measures, started by the Jamaica Labour Party administration (2007-2011) to transform the dump into a landfill, were stopped by the current People’s National Party Administration, which took over the reins of the country at the beginning of 2012.

“We employed a qualified Jamaican from overseas to advise on this issue; we divided the Riverton dump into cells; we started to cover the dump by using marl from a UDC (Urban Development Corporation) marl pit at Caymanas; we arranged a ‘swap’ with the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) to provide free collection in exchange for a security post at Riverton; we issued a Request for Proposals and selected a preferred bidder to turn the waste into 40-60 megawatts of electricity,” Shaw said.

“We had plans to install four pumps, store water and a network of pipes and systems to spray onto the dump. Mr Speaker, Riverton dump needs management, proper management,” he concluded.

— Balford Henry