After Hurricane Irma destroyed thousands of vehicles across the territory in 2017, many of them were crushed and stored at Pockwood Pond.
Now the Department of Waste Management is collaborating with a company called KMJ General Maintenance to remove all derelict vehicles and other scrap metals from the area and ship them to Colombia to be recycled, according to Government Information Services.
Acting DWM Manager Neville Allen said Pockwood Pond had to be used as a storage area because the 2017 hurricanes strained the previous space in Sea Cows Bay.
“The hope is that the storage and processing of derelicts will be returned to Sea Cows Bay,” according to a GIS press release issued Friday.
Mr. Allen said the department issued a tender for the removal of the vehicles and KMJ General Maintenance got in touch. The release didn’t say how much the government is paying the company, or if any other companies showed interest or bid on the project.
No information about the company was provided either.
Loading
The vehicle removal began on April 11, and scrap metals were loaded onto a barge starting on May 25, according to GIS.
Since then, the release stated, more than 2,000 tons of scrap metals were processed and loaded.
“Right now they are on the site and they have a 5,000-ton barge they are loading, and we are expecting to get all the items off the property and trying to return to how it was prior,” Mr. Allen said in the release. “I am happy to see these metals being processed and placed on the barge and the barge leaving to ship them off the island.”
Completion of the project was expected the same day, and the vessel was expected to leave the territory Saturday, according to GIS.
Meanwhile, Mr. Allen said the government will pressure owners to take responsibility for their derelict vehicles.
“Many persons bring vehicles from Japan and so forth and it is very difficult to get parts when it starts giving problems, and they would take these vehicles and put them on the side of the road and in public parking lots,” he said. “It is a nightmare — a safety issue — and it breaks down the beauty of our territory. If people bring in these vehicles, they need to be more responsible and do not put them on the side of the road for the government to deal with.”