Kudos to government for commissioning and publishing a comprehensive solid waste management strategy for the territory.
Moving forward, leaders should use the recommendations contained in the document to devise a plan of action, and they should stick to it for the long term.
Currently, the Virgin Islands is far behind the times when it comes to solid waste management. There is no comprehensive recycling programme in place; overflowing landfills pose unacceptable environmental and health hazards; the Pockwood Pond incinerator routinely burns non-combustible waste, exacerbating air pollution; and there is no comprehensive waste management legislation, among other issues.
As the territory continues to grow and develop, these problems will intensify unless the existing waste management system is reformed from the ground up.
Hiring an outside consultant — the Trinidad-based Egarr & Associates, which has completed similar analyses elsewhere in the region — was a good first step.
VI leaders also were right to table the document in the House of Assembly, thereby making it public and helping to ensure that the community understands the issues at hand.
The proposed strategy includes several progressive suggestions for the way forward, many of which are designed to incentivise eco-friendly decisions:
• establishing a facility where trash can be sorted for recycling and reuse;
• promoting composting in the community;
• launching public education programmes;
• establishing a dedicated legislative framework for solid waste management; and
• commissioning a study on waste-to-energy strategies, among others.
We would add that such steps could be coupled with related measures, such as the formation of a litter and beautification commission.
Of course, there is a cost to such reforms. All told, the consultants recommended 18 steps over the course of six years at an estimated $19.8 million — a cost they predicted would be offset by about 21 percent because of reduced use of the incinerator.
Though this price tag is by no means insignificant, the cost of doing nothing — or applying band-aids that don’t address underlying problems — doubtlessly would be much higher.
For the well-being of residents and visitors alike, the VI needs a waste management system that is sustainable and environmentally friendly.
The consultants have provided a sound blueprint for the way forward. The territory should use it wisely.
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