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Following the
creation of the Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management
Authority (SLSWMA), the most important priority became the improvement
of conditions in the two existing solid waste disposal sites located at
Ciceron, in the north, and Vieux Fort, in the south. The Ciceron and Vieux
Fort sites, serving as the main disposal sites for Saint Lucia for the
last 10 years, receive approximately 200,000 tons of waste per year. Domestic
and institutional wastes comprise 70 per cent of the total waste while
green waste, industrial waste, and commercial waste make up for 10 percent
of the total waste, respectively. Poor management quality caused continued
environmental degradation and potential risks to public health. Specific
issues of concern included fly and vermin infestation, uncontrolled burning,
contamination of surface water, offensive odors, deterioration in visual
aesthetics, wind-blown litter, as well as encroachment on nearby agricultural
and ecologically
significant land areas. Because of increasing public opposition to the
continuing use of these two sites, the Authority needed to devise a coordinated
approach that would remedy poor management operations of the sites and
generate private as well as community support.
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• Community acceptance
was achieved through a series of consultation meetings with all stakeholders
including local residents, voluntary and youth groups, contractors, business
representatives and the local town councils.
• A reduction of negative environmental and health impacts has been
achieved through several initiatives, including the erection of a perimeter
wall to screen the disposal sites from public to improve aesthetics, regrading
and compacting sites to reduce surface water infiltration, construction
of all weather site access roads, and the daily application of cover material
and regular spraying for the purpose of re-ducing rodent and insect infestation.
• An improvement of operational planning resulted from detailed operational
guidelines for the management of disposal sites, the provision to improved
site infrastructure for staff training on plant operation, environment
management and health and safety issues.
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