Dear Editor,

The Granville Peace Justice and Resource Development Foundation is calling on Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government and rural development, to relieve Audley Gordon of his post as executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) on the grounds that he has failed to see to the satisfactory management of the Retirement Landfill in a manner that protects the health and well-being of the citizens of Granville and neighbouring communities. The NSWMA Board should also be asked to resign.

The mismanagement of the dump and the attendant consequences is in violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens “to enjoy a healthy and productive environment free from the threat of injury or damage from environmental abuse and degradation of the ecological heritage”.

Since December 18 the noxious fumes emanating from the dump have blanketed the area, resulting in reports of an increase in pulmonary disorders, including asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis, being experienced by residents living in adjacent communities of the new Estuary Development, Irwin Meadows, Pitfour, Retirement, Granville, Fairfield, Belfield, and as far off as Bogue Village.

We are further calling on you, Minister McKenzie, to convene a meeting with the affected communities along with the NSWMA and the Enterprise Group to give the community the opportunity to air their grievances and proffer solutions to this unbearable situation.

Further, the communities would like to be updated on measures taken to mitigate intermittent spontaneous combustion, secure the dump site to prevent arson, and the timeline for the relocation of the dump.

Owen Dave Allen

Executive chairman

Granville Peace Justice and Resource Development Foundation

odamaxef@yahoo.com