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More double standards by Gov’t; DWM engaged in open burning on JvD
Mr Michael told the public, via a Government Information Services (GIS) statement, that he was asking all “persons to refrain from burning garbage, as it affects young children, the elderly, asthmatics and persons with compromised immune systems."
In fact, Mr Michael warned that “backyard burning is also harmful to the environment and a potential fire hazard."
Government is breaking the policy!
However, did you know that the biggest culprit and breaker of this policy of backyard burning is the Government of the Virgin Islands?
The Department that continues to engage in this on all islands is the Department of Waste Management (DWM), who falls under the portfolio of the Minister for Health and Social Development headed by Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton (AL).
In fact, both agencies, the DWM and the Environmental Health Division, fall under the same Ministry and it seems like they cannot coordinate their information and set an example.
Backyard burning today on JvD
A visit to Jost van Dyke (JvD) today Sunday, March 18, 2018, found that the DWM continues to engage in open burning on the eastern end in the Bubble Pool area on Jost van Dyke, as the area is the new garbage disposal site.
We found the area mounted with garbage and a cesspool of flies and indeed a clear example of a “fire hazard and harmful to the environment,” the same complaint made by Mr Michael last month in his GIS press statement.
The eastern area on JvD has become unsightly and visitors and residents stay far from the area, which also once had an extension of Foxy’s known as ‘Foxy’s Taboo’ but was blown down and destroyed by the powerful winds of Hurricanes Irma and Maria of last year.
Government double standards- Resident
One resident, a member of the JvD Preservation Society who did not want her name to be published, in an invited comment, told our newsroom “it’s a shame as government telling the people not to do something when they are doing the same things, so it means we cannot trust anything coming from government anymore…the flies and smell are a health hazard,” she lamented.
Up to publication time Director of the Department of Waste Management, Mr Greg R. Massicote could not be reached for a comment.
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