For several days now, we've been receiving requests from environmentally conscious residents of Belmopan who raise complaints against the persistent open burning of garbage piled up at the dump site near the Belmopan Transfer Station.
As viewers may remember, how the country manages solid waste was changed entirely back in 2013. That's when the Solid Waste Management Authority launched a model program. The way it works is that the main dump sites were reorganized with the construction of transfer stations. The messy and environmentally unsustainable dump sites were transformed into temporary holding facilities, where the garbage was organized and then carted away to a new, state-of-the-art sanitary landfill, which was established at Mile 24 on the George Price Highway.
In the years that followed, the transfer stations have more or less been working as intended, but the facility just outside of Belmopan City continues to remain dormant, even though its construction was completed several years ago. One concerned resident called us to complain in the context that back in 2020, the Cayo District was devastated by forest fires, which were believed to have been caused by irresponsible management of smaller blazes. The dumpsite near the Belmopan facility reportedly has perpetual fires going, which continue to dump smoke on the nearby Belmopan residents.
Here's what businessman Ronaldo Logan told us yesterday about his daily encounters with the smoke coming from the burning dump site:
Ronaldo Logan - Belmopan Resident/Businessman
"From last year, I have been calling Solid Waste Management because I have to drive past there at least twice a day. And I am tired of seeing a brand new facility built. The thing is just collecting dust. They are paying the light bill. Someone is watching the place. I called Solid Waste Management the last time, the lady told me that she doesn't care. It's Miss Lumen. I told her, miss, I will actually say it on the news one of these days that you told me that you don't care. She told me to follow through. 'I don't care.' So, I called DOE, and I asked them, what are you all doing? They are blaming Solid Waste Management. They are blaming each other like a dog chasing its tail."
Daniel Ortiz
"What explanation are they giving you as to why that burning [of garbage] is being allowed, and the garbage isn't being disposed of properly through the Solid Waste Management Authority?"
Ronaldo Logan - Belmopan Resident/Businessman
"As I told you last year, I called them. They told me, 'Wait until the budget is read. When the budget was read for this year, they would have put that in as part of the expense. They said that it's 7 million. I told the lady, 'Miss, 7 million to you and me is a lot, but to the government, it's like you took a [strand] of hair out of a cat. She is insisting that it's a lot of money, but I told her that's not much, only 7 million. That's what got me going, they just can't use the thing. I know that things cost millions; we must have a succession plan. What are we going to do with those things? Did we just build them to collect dust? That is what got me going. Belize depends a lot on tourism. Everybody who goes south on the Hummingbird has to see that thing twice: when you go, and when you come back. We sell tourism, and we are selling green credits to the world, telling the world that we are going green, but yet we are burning garbage every day."
Daniel Ortiz
"Explain to us your conviction that you know for a fact that it's burning every day. The people responsible for that could claim that you're exaggerating."
Ronaldo Logan - Belmopan Resident/Businessman
"No man, I pass there every day, twice a day. I pass there in the morning and in the evening. Sometimes, I pass late at night, and sometimes, you can't even see the road. I know if you ask any Belizean who travels on that road, they could actually tell that smoke is on that road. Sometimes, you can't even see. They tell you that you can't do it, but they could do it. That's what I find rough because it's 'do as I say; don't do as I do.'"
