And in other environmental news... Last night, we showed you two concerned citizens: one from Belmopan and the other from Dangriga Town, who say that the garbage dumps near their community burn through the day and night. They are especially pained by the eyesore and the volumes of smoke smothering their communities, because two brand new garbage transfer stations are sitting dormant right beside the burning dumps.
Those transfer stations come under the jurisdiction of the Solid Waste Management Authority, and yesterday, we attempted to get a comment from SWAMA's, Director, Lumen Cayetano. Unfortunately, she was unavailable, but today, she granted us an extended interview via Zoom.
During that conversation, she explained that the Belmopan and the Dangriga Transfer Stations are not the only facilities that are dormant, even though they are completed. She outlined that these facilities are among six countrywide that will be brought online in the next few months:
Lumen Cayetano - Director, Solid Waste Management Authority
"Mr. Ortiz, under Solid Waste Management Project #2, another six transfer stations were constructed. These are located in Corozal, Orange Walk, Belmopan, Dangriga, Punta Gorda, and Placencia. We have gotten a commitment from the Ministry of Finance to start with a phased approach to bringing those facilities on stream. The first two out of the six that we will phase in are the transfer stations in Belmopan and Dangriga. So, we will be bringing those on board incrementally. The transfer stations were completed in 2020, for the most part. Those types of facilities need to be commissioned, as they refer to it, whereby you test them for their practicality, functionality, and there's also what is called a defects liability period associated with that type of installation. So, those were commissioned in 2020. Financing the operations of those transfer stations is not necessarily an issue because we currently benefit from the environmental tax. The current operations that we run, the facilities constructed under Solid Waste Management Project #1, those are financed by the government fully through the environmental tax. So, there are funds available, but where the challenge lies is with the operational model that is to be used in order to bring those facilities on board. If you may recall, back in 2013, when we first started operating the transfer stations constructed under Solid Waste Management Project #1, those facilities were being operated by a firm, PASA Belize Limited. Those facilities were constructed under a design, build, and operate scheme. So, the same contractor that designed built, and also operated those facilities. So, that was a modality that included an operation function within it. But, with these new transfer stations that have been constructed these were constructed in lots, and it was only design and construction. There was not an operational component attached to this new project that was undertaken."
So, what is the hold-up for these six transfer stations? According to Director Cayetano, the expense to run them is very high, so the government had initially decided to bring them online in a phased approach. Here's that part of our conversation.
Lumen Cayetano
"These facilities are very expensive to operate, and if you know the payment for services where the waste management is concerned, it's little to none. So, the government in itself has to fully fund the operations of these facilities. There aren't any user fees currently being charged, which would build a component of sustainability into the operation of these facilities."
Daniel Ortiz
"So ma'am, what do you say to the residents of these communities for the six transfer stations that have to be phased in when they're saying, look, we have a garbage problem? Why are these things dormant? The common-sense reasoning is, if we built it, we spent money on it, let's us use it now."
Lumen Cayetano
"Clearly, there is a need to revisit the thinking because, as you rightly mentioned, we all want to get those facilities up and running. So, a decision has to be taken. The proposed model is to phase them, but if that is not the most reasonable model to operate on in the eyes of the public, then a decision will have to be made."
Daniel Ortiz
"And who would have to make that decision, the government?"
Lumen Cayetano
"That would have to be an executive decision that would have to be made. Those decisions are not made at my level. As a technocrat, I offer guidance. I offer technical support and advice to my ministry where these matters are concerned."
But, as you saw last night, the two concerned citizens expressed the very same frustration. They think that if the facilities are completed and ready to be utilized, then why are the authorities allowing their community's garbage problems to persist?
You'll remember that Ronaldo Logan specifically called out Director Cayetano by alleging that she dismissed his concerns, saying, "I don't care." We asked Cayetano about that, and she insisted that Logan misquoted her by failing to explain the context of her comment correctly.
Here's how she made the counter-allegation that he became impatient and aggressive toward her and her staff because he didn't like the explanations she dutifully provided:
Lumen Cayetano
"What that resident failed to mention clearly is indeed, he called the office on numerous occasions. He spoke to a number of members of my staff, and he pretty much intimidated and tried to bully my staff. I spoke to the gentlemen. As we are speaking right now, I gave him the information I gave him the information. If you noticed, he quoted a figure in his interview. Clearly, he spoke to me, and clearly, I disclosed information to him. So, he misquoted me. He misquoted the 'I don't care.' He took that out of context. Indeed, there was an 'I don't care,' but that came after he bullied me and he threatened that he would go to the media. So clearly, after I had given him all the information that I had on hand, I am a technocrat. I don't decide what gets spent, how it gets spent, and all of that. My minister and my ministry go based on my recommendation and the best advice that I offer. So, when he threatened to go to the media, I told him, well, if that is what you want to do, sir, then I don't care because, at this point in time, I have given you the best information, to the best of my knowledge, that I have in my possession. People may be of the view of that we're not taking the situation seriously, Daniel, but it is in my best interest to ensure that the environment is protected, to ensure that waste is managed properly. And I have an obligation to ensure that those are done. So, I can reason with the frustration. I can understand the perspective, the point of view where the facilities are sitting there not being used. But, we can offer a commitment that those facilities will start to come on stream within the next 3 to 6 months. One of the things that need to be born in mind as well using these facilities, and bringing these facilities live requires a tendering process. It's not you wake up and you assign the operations of the facility to anybody. They need to be suitably qualified. They need to be able to have the cash flow to manage and operate these facilities. They're coming on stream. I just appeal, and I ask for people to be patient with us. And within the wider context of waste management, there are challenges everywhere."
Again, the Director insisted to us that the transfer stations should be operational in the next few months.
