Dear Editor,
Maybe it is divine intervention or just pure good luck, but Andrew Holness can breathe a little easier now that the Riverton landfill fire has now taken over the news. Even though the fumes are noxious and unhealthy, Holness would rather breathe them in than confront a barrage of criticisms.
Holness, at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) meeting, said that 'wi ago tyad fi si him face'. He must remember that by the time we had got tired of seeing Edward Seaga's face we were also tired of seeing P J Patterson's face and the country was a wreck.
Is it logical to think that if the Government cannot manage the Riverton landfill it will be able to manage the far more complex logistics hub? Remember, Phillip Paulwell promised us that by the end of 2014 we should expect a deal with a waste-to-energy investor. Not that this would eliminate the need for a landfill, but it would greatly reduce its necessity. The problem former Minister of Energy Clive Mullings said he encountered was the tipping fees. A waste-to-energy plant would reduce the importation of fossil fuel to generate electricity, which would reduce expenditure of foreign exchange, ensure a cleaner environment, reduce unemployment; plus it is also labour-intensive.
In 2012, when we had a Riverton landfill fire, the then Public Defender Earl Witter advised members of the public who are affected by the noxious fumes, particularly those who have respiratory illness to seek legal redress through his office. He said: "Public nuisance are criminal offences at common law. If the police were to prosecute them from time to time, maybe that might get their attention and they would do better." All of this sounds reasonable, but if the hundreds of people affected by the Riverton fire were to take out a suit against the Government, how would they get paid?
Mark Clarke
Siloah, PO, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
Holness glad for the 'smoke screen'
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Maybe it is divine intervention or just pure good luck, but Andrew Holness can breathe a little easier now that the Riverton landfill fire has now taken over the news. Even though the fumes are noxious and unhealthy, Holness would rather breathe them in than confront a barrage of criticisms.
Holness, at a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) meeting, said that 'wi ago tyad fi si him face'. He must remember that by the time we had got tired of seeing Edward Seaga's face we were also tired of seeing P J Patterson's face and the country was a wreck.
Is it logical to think that if the Government cannot manage the Riverton landfill it will be able to manage the far more complex logistics hub? Remember, Phillip Paulwell promised us that by the end of 2014 we should expect a deal with a waste-to-energy investor. Not that this would eliminate the need for a landfill, but it would greatly reduce its necessity. The problem former Minister of Energy Clive Mullings said he encountered was the tipping fees. A waste-to-energy plant would reduce the importation of fossil fuel to generate electricity, which would reduce expenditure of foreign exchange, ensure a cleaner environment, reduce unemployment; plus it is also labour-intensive.
In 2012, when we had a Riverton landfill fire, the then Public Defender Earl Witter advised members of the public who are affected by the noxious fumes, particularly those who have respiratory illness to seek legal redress through his office. He said: "Public nuisance are criminal offences at common law. If the police were to prosecute them from time to time, maybe that might get their attention and they would do better." All of this sounds reasonable, but if the hundreds of people affected by the Riverton fire were to take out a suit against the Government, how would they get paid?
Mark Clarke
Siloah, PO, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
Holness glad for the 'smoke screen'
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