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Dealing with what we don't want -
Managing Wastes in Grenada
June 1999

by Odette Campbell, CERN correspondent, Grenada

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The disposal of solid waste in Grenada has been the prime responsibility of the government. But like in several other Caribbean countries, the Ministry of Health was faced with a multitude of problems. Frequent delays in the garbage truck's arrival meant bigger and bigger piles-up in certain areas, a threat to human health and the environment. The population cried out for improvement and the government found an answer in privatization.
A yellow garbage collection truck, named "Old Mary" gets rid of the tonnes of wastes produced on a daily basis. Old Mary has a busy schedule, by day picking up the nation's household waste. Additionally at 6:30 every evening, Old Mary arrives at the market square in St. Georges, the capital city of Grenada. This stop is probably the longest and most challenging of the day: its halt includes banana stocks, coconut shells, unsold dasheens and yams and other provisions left by vendors. Then, there are the cardboard boxes, scraps of wood and other material deposited there by some who should be paying a private company to get rid of their commercial waste. Nevertheless, Old Mary works her way through the town and never stops till the last scrap is picked up. Then it goes off to the Perseverance landfill on the West Coast.

Amid much complaint that the solid waste disposal programme was not being run efficiently while under State control, the government decided it was time to let go. Several local entrepreneurs formed several disposal waste companies and took the key to Old Mary. They were given contracts to collect garbage throughout the country and dispose of it.

To support this, the government imposed an environmental levy on all electricity consumers. This levy is automatically deducted and is payable when one goes to pay the electricity bill.

Initially, there was concern among people that, number one, they were being slapped in the face with a new tax, and number two, will they be receiving the services in return for their money? This is a legitimate concern because garbage collection has traditionally been done in the town areas only, while people in the rural areas had to find ways of disposing of their solid waste themselves. However, indications are that the change-over from state to private control has brought improvements. Some villages which never saw a garbage collection truck in the area before, are now having twice-weekly pickups.

According to a resident in New Hampshire, a village just outside the capital city: "People don't mind paying the 10% levy once the road is clean. There has been a lot of improvement; things are really looking better!"

[452 words]

In collaboration with the Caribbean Environmental Reporters Network (CERN), Panos produces a weekly 10-minutes radio series: "Island Beat - News from the environmental frontline of the Caribbean". It documents community environmental themes, in particular highlighting community experiences in finding solutions to environmental problems, reported by journalists from across the Caribbean region. This current print feature has been derived from a radio programme which was produced in June 1997.

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