Environment Minister Adrian Forde has warned that surveillance cameras are now quietly monitoring illegal dumping hotspots across Barbados, with offenders to be prosecuted in the courts.
Speaking during a World Environment Month press briefing on Wednesday, Forde confirmed that the long-announced monitoring system is now in place and operational, though he declined to disclose the camera locations.
“We have started to put cameras in specific areas so that we can be able to catch those outbreaks and use the registration [plates] to bring them before the law courts,” Forde said.
“That’s all I can say on it . . . they don’t need to know where the cameras are.”
The minister’s blunt warning came as he delivered a passionate appeal for Barbadians to stop littering and polluting the environment, especially gullies, which he described as vital natural buffers against climate change.
“We cannot continue with business as usual,” he said.
“We must not leave it to our children’s children to be the champions of this fight. It must start with us.”
Forde said the government’s Gullies Are Life project, which is designed to protect biodiversity and strengthen climate resilience, has already revealed the extent of public disregard including the dumping of old appliances and chemical pollutants in sensitive green spaces.
“It is heartbreaking. We’ve picked up devices, sometimes old ones, that should never have been dumped there. It shows how we are treating our gullies and ecosystems,” he said.
The minister reminded the public that recently passed Storm Water Management legislation allows for fines of up to $20 000 for individuals who pollute the national water supply.
He urged residents to dispose of waste properly and use the bins and collection systems provided.
“I’m not asking Barbadians to go to Mars and recycle carbon dioxide into oxygen. I’m asking them to do the simple, basic things,” he said.
“Stop littering. Stop illegal dumping. Stop putting chemicals in our gullies. These are not big asks nor rocket science.”
Forde also criticised cruise-goers and beach users who discard plastics and garbage into the ocean, calling for a collective effort to protect the island’s marine environment.
He noted that as the ministry works to finalise a new National Solid Waste Management Plan, the public is being encouraged to work alongside the government to reduce pollution and improve waste handling across the country.
Meanwhile, in an initiative aimed at schools, Waste Management Coordinator Thora Lorde announced the local rollout of the Plastic Clever Schools programme which is part of a National Action Plan to End Plastic Pollution.
The programme focuses on student-led projects to reduce plastic waste within schools.
“We’re not going to go into the schools and tell them what to do,” Lorde said.
“We’re going to let the children think and come up with the projects that are needed to fix the problems at their schools, after a bit of education, of course.” (SM)
The post Cameras set up for illegal dumpers appeared first on Barbados Today.
