Belize City, Thursday, May 21, 2009 - For almost two months, Belize City residents have been forced to endure the stifling and highly toxic smoke which is the result of the garbage dump burning out of control. On April 7, UDP City Councillor in charge of sanitation Phillip Willoughby stated that they would have the situation under control that same day, but as we go to press there has been no change.

The Government of Belize has come under serious attack from residents who believe that the situation was critical enough to require intercession a long time ago. Instead, residents have had to suffer while UDP Councillor Phillip Willoughby takes advantage of every photo opportunity to don fireman’s garb complete with oxygen mask. Those photo opportunities have made no discernible difference in the burning of the dump.

Just yesterday, after it was apparent that CitCo did not have the capacity to deal with the situation, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) was brought into the mix, and by today, plans were well underway to use a dredge to smother the fire under water brought in from the Borden Canal. According to Francis Woods of Cisco Construction, that dredge is expected to pump about 200,000 – 300,000 gallons of water per hour into the dump, and it will operate for 18 hours at a time. Woods estimated that they would have the problem under control by next week Tuesday.

The media seemed satisfied that the problem would be cleared up under the deluge of water, but the Belize Times tonight spoke to a doctor who is not at all happy or satisfied with the situation. According to the medical practitioner, for the past two months, Belizeans have been experiencing something akin to chemical warfare from the toxins which have blanketed the city as the dump burns. Now, he said, Belizeans and the environment would have to deal with a large pond of toxic soup.

There’s no doubt that the fire will be extinguished by millions of gallons of water, the doctor continued, but where does it go from there. Where will the water contaminated by thousands of tons of garbage then go? Will it drain into the sea? What effect will the poisoned water have on the surroundings and on marine life if indeed it drains into the sea?

These questions were not raised by the media, and indeed when the reports were aired tonight there was no official from the Ministry of the Environment to add input, but this all seems to be adding up to an enormous environmental nightmare.

News hounds may remember when the previous administration attempted to create a new dump near mile 27 on the Western Highway. At the time environmentalist Sharon Matola fought vehemently against that project, protesting that the garbage would poison the water table.

Now, after neglecting the situation at the dump for two months, the Government of Belize now seems poised to prepare a recipe for environmental disaster. The Belize Times will continue to follow this story and report any developments.

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