CWSA issues warning to business houses

The Solid Waste Unit of the Central Water and Sewerage Authority is fed up of Kingstown businesses flouting the law concerning the disposal of their waste, and firm steps have been taken to make sure that they face the full weight of the law.

A joint task force including the police, public health officials and the Solid Waste Unit has been set up to look into and aggressively attack the problem. “The laws are in place. What we are looking into is identifying the culprits and enforcement of the law,” said Winsbert Quow, Manager of the Solid Waste Unit.{{more}}

Quow and his Public Relations Officer Joan Ryan spoke to SEARCHLIGHT in a recent interview and indicated their unit’s plan to see successful prosecution of the business houses which have continually and without regard engaged in the illegal practice.

Businesses are supposed to organize to get their waste to the land fill themselves, but some have opted for the illegal short cut of dumping their waste in receptacles which were set up for public use or even more so, the “skips” set up for government offices’ use.

Identifying these occurrences as a very big problem for the Solid Waste Unit, Quow told SEARCHLIGHT that even vagrants are paid a couple bucks to dump the garage while business owners are very well aware that it is not dumped in the prescribed venue. “Just pass behind the post office after 4 p.m. on any given evening,” said Ryan.

The Solid Waste management official confidently told SEARCHLIGHT that the media can be on the lookout for cases being tried in court and business houses being called upon to pay the potentially huge fines in the near future as the task force intensifies their efforts to catch the culprits.

Some business houses may very well soon serve as examples that the nation is serious about solid waste management and the environment on a whole. Businesses can be charged up to $75,000 for those offences under the current legislation governing the solid waste management.