SHALIZA HASSANALI
Criminal gangs in Port-of-Spain have infiltrated the Beetham landfill causing "lawlessness" as they profit from the lucrative scrap iron industry.
The situation has become so out of hand that armed police officers are stationed at the landfill to maintain law and order.
"To keep people out of the landfill you virtually have to have an army out here monitoring it daily," Ronald Milford, chairman of the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) told the Sunday Guardian at the 229-acre landfill situated south of the Beetham Highway last Tuesday.
They have also stationed officers at the other two dumps in the country–Guanapo and Forres Park–as a result of the lawlessness.
SWMCOL manages the landfills at Beetham, Guanapo, and Forres Park, which receive 700,000 tonnes of garbage per year, including household waste, bottles, metals, plastics, papers, tyres, and clothing. The Government spends $100 million yearly on waste collection.
In the last year, the State-owned company has faced numerous challenges at its Beetham and Forres Park sites, including an unruly mob setting fire to one of its recycling facilities in Sea Lots, the crushing to death of a salvager, and a gun-pulling incident outside its Forres Park landfill.
"Every day is lawlessness," a frustrated Milford admitted.
"It is illegal for them (scavengers) to be there (landfills). There are gangs (who) have infiltrated, so you could well imagine. These scavengers are controlled by gangs...for instance...Beetham is controlled by gang leaders in Port-of-Spain. We know that for a fact because there is money in this business called recycling."
However, a few of the scavengers interviewed by the Sunday Guardian denied working for or with any gangs. According to one scavenger, they have been accused of using scrap iron to make "homemade guns" even though nobody in Beetham Gardens had a melting furnace to engage in such illegal activities.
The Beetham site attracts over 200 men daily who make a living rummaging through piles of trash to salvage items to sell. Their most valuable commodity is scrap iron and copper.
A police officer attached to the Guard and Emergency Branch on duty at the Beetham Landfill on Tuesday.
ABRAHAM DIAZ
"We would love to stop everybody from coming into the landfills. I am going to be frank with you, if we were to fence off this area, I hate to say it, within two days the fence would be gone, and it would be used as scrap metal. It is a very unfortunate situation," Milford said.
There are times we would call on the police "for certain kinds of support," he said.
Describing the gangs as organised, Milford said "They have their people in there. The more scrap metal you bring for me the more money I get kind of thing."
He said gang members would drop off their bins at the site and certain scavengers would fill them with scrap metal. The bins are collected by specific trucks and taken to scrap metal yards for sale and export.
Milford said that this was not an overnight problem and that the recycling industry has got progressively worse as people realise it is a lucrative and thriving business.
The Government imposed a six-month ban on the scrap iron industry in August in response to continuous acts of vandalism on state assets, including the cutting and stealing of copper wires, cable barriers, and electricity poles.
The ban, according to the T&T Scrap Iron Dealers' Association president Allan Ferguson, could result in a loss of $130 million in revenue. The industry is estimated to generate close to $260 million annually.
The Government promised last month that the ban would be lifted by the end of the year, but the ban on copper exports will remain in effect.
However, Milford said that this was not the only issue that SWMCOL has had to deal with.
In June Forres Park scavenger David Charles was tragically killed after being crushed by a tractor.
The landfill had to close its doors for two days which almost led to a riot.
"There was an armed confrontation. One individual was arrested. He had pulled out an automatic weapon, and so we have to live through that. How do we keep our staff safe in an environment like this?"
A scavenger picks up biscuits while searching for valuables at the Beetham Landfill on Tuesday.
ARAHAM DIAZ
Eating expired foodstuff, cooking and living in the dumps
The scavengers are also eating expired foodstuffs dumped at landfills by manufacturers and companies.
Milford said before companies dispose of food that is unfit for human consumption, it should be compressed or shredded. That, he said, is their responsibility.
The businesses also have the option of calling SWMCOL to provide shredding or compacting services to have the items destroyed.
However, Milford claims that in most cases, this is not done because private trucks offload bags of snacks, cases of canned foods, and packaged goods on the sites.
"We try as quickly to cover it (foods) with material, but that is not always possible."
Milford expressed concerns that the dumped food items being salvaged could be sold on the streets to unsuspecting customers.
"Anytime you start engaging in expired products there is bound to be some sort of health issue associated with that.
"It's consumables, so meats...everything that comes in here...if we don't cover it quickly enough it can end up unfortunately into a consumer's shopping bag."
In some cases, the scavengers would eat or cook the items on the dump sites, which Milford described as extremely concerning.
One salvager was seen rummaging through red garbage bags filled with a popular biscuit consumed by children and adults. He was also devouring the biscuits. Milford said, to his recollection, SWMCOL has had no incidents of people rummaging in the dump falling ill. "But it does not mean it did not happen."
Questioned about the dangers and health consequences for boys as young as 13, 14, and 15 sifting through trash at the Beetham landfill, Milford's response was, "It's a terrible situation right now."
Recently, SWMCOL had to demolish a hovel built inside the Beetham dump that provided housing for five family members.
Erecting crudely built structures in the dump, Milford said, was nothing new.
"If we see families living on the land, we move them. It is not a safe place for families to be here."
The Ministry of Health was contacted for comment on the health issues associated with the scavengers at the dump on Tuesday, but there was no response up to late Friday.
Chairman of SWMCOL Ronald Milford speaks with two unidentified members of staff at the Beetham Landfill on Tuesday.
ABRAHAM DIAZ
What's the solution?
Milford said the construction of an engineered landfill was the only way to solve these problems.
Two weeks ago, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales told the Sunday Guardian that the Government has designated several hectares of land in Forres Park for the construction of the country's first multi-million dollar engineered landfill capable of separating household waste from recycled materials.
Upon completion of this landfill in Claxton Bay in early 2025, SWMCOL will shut down and rehabilitate the Beetham and Guanapo landfills which have reached their capacity. These two sites will be used as "transfer stations" to sort recycling items. This will provide employment for Beetham Gardens and Sea Lots residents.
SWMCOL is undertaking a new study to determine how much rubbish is being deposited in its three landfills annually.
To begin this process, Milford said that citizens and stakeholders would be required to support the Beverage Container Bill, which aims to impose fines for improper plastic bottle disposal as well as develop a deposit and refund system for prescribed sizes of beverage containers and a regime for beverage container collection to reduce their disposal into the environment.