Cabinet discusses ‘zero-emission’ waste management proposal

A 20-year Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy aimed at addressing a myriad of waste management issues in an environment-friendly manner is still high on the government’s agenda.

To this end, the cabinet recently discussed a “paper on the Integrated Solid Waste Management Project for the Turks and Caicos Islands, co-funded by the Caribbean Development Bank, providing strategic planning and design of an improved Solid Waste Management System which will benefit all islands”, a post-Cabinet statement said.

The cabinet meeting chaired by HE Acting Governor, Anya Williams, was also presented with a “zero-emission, environmentfriendly, waste management proposal” with the capacity to clear existing landfills, generate electricity, create employment opportunities, and produce various waste products which can be used in the construction and agricultural sector.

For many years the Turks and Caicos Islands has suffered very low and insufficient Solid Waste Management (SWM), with most of the waste being disposed of at unlined landfills in Grand Turk and Providenciales.

In an effort to address these issues, the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to the tune of US$672,500 towards the cost of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Project in 2019.

Earlier this year, the Government sought the services of HYDEA an international design and consulting company to lead a joint venture with its partners Resources & Waste Advisory Group Ltd (UK) and Coastal Design & Engineering Ltd (TCI) to assist the TCI with its Integrated Solid Waste Management Project, funded by the CDB.

The consulting company which specialises in architecture, infrastructure, engineering and environment projects explained on its website that data collected from the Turks and Caicos Islands shows that the amount of waste disposed of increased by an order of magnitude in the period 20052016, from two to 15 tonnes/day at Grand Turk, and from 12 to 130 tonnes/day at Providenciales.

In addition to the main disposal sites, in Providenciales and in

Grand Turk, there are smaller ones are in North Caicos (Kew and Bottle Creek), Middle Caicos (Lorimers), South Caicos (south of the airport), and Salt Cay (southern tip).

The consortium’s work got underway in February 2023 with a 12-month completion time frame to develop a countrywide Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy and the Preliminary and Final Design of solid waste disposal facilities for the territory.

The objectives of the consultancy are to prepare an Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy for the sustainable management of solid waste in TCI over a 20-year