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Air pollution worry
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Officials yet to locate late-night tyre-burning site affecting
residents
BY CLAUDIENNE EDWARDS
Observer writer
edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, March 01, 2018
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Officials are yet to locate the site of the activity
DNA test confirms that View Previous Cartoons »
RGD baby is stolen baby

AS complaints increase about respiratory issues among residents of

Washington Gardens and surrounding communities due to late-night burning
of what the authorities believe are motor vehicle tyres, officials are yet to
locate the site of the activity.

To make matters worse, calls for the National Environment and Planning Agency
(NEPA) to conduct air quality tests in the area have left residents with more
concerns because NEPA has disclosed that it is unable to carry out the tests, as the
air quality monitor that was set up in Washington Gardens in 2012 has not worked
since 2015.

The affected communities are said to be Callaloo Mews, Washington Gardens,

Riverton Meadows, and Cooreville in St Andrew. NEPA was asked to carry out air
quality tests in the Washington Boulevard area at the Disaster Preparedness and
Public Health Committee meetings of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal
Corporation (KSAMC) in January and February.

Last Friday, NEPA Chief Executive Officer Peter Knight told the Jamaica Observer
that he went to the area that morning and “the situation is bad”.

The KSAMC CEO Robert Hill, who also spoke to the Observer on Friday, said that
City Inspector Alrick Francis was “trying to find the source of the problem”.

According to Knight, tyres are being used as fuel to burn the plastic off stolen copper
wire. He said, too, that metal was being extracted from the burnt tyres and sold to
the scrap metal trade.

Telecommunications companies Flow and Digicel have lost millions of dollars as a

result of copper theft.

Questioned as to NEPA's enforcement policy and the penalties in the law for illegal
tyre burning, Knight said it attracts a fine of $50,000 and/or 12 months' imprisonment
for breaches of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act, the Natural
Resources Conservation Authority (Air Quality) Regulations, 2006, Reg 44(1)(g).

He said that the provision prohibits discharges of any air pollutant or activity that
causes any air pollutant without a licence.

He also said that NEPA was not the only agency with powers to stop tyre burning.
According to Knight, the Public Health (Nuisance) Regulations 1995 would also be
applicable.

He pointed out that “smoke and smell are nuisances for the purposes of Schedule
Two, Regs 3 and 11”. Under those regulations the Government agents who may act
are the public health inspector; medical officer; a person authorised by the minister;
and the local board (which means in this instance the Local Board of Health as
constituted by the KSAMC under Section 5 of the Public Health Act).

The regulations require that a notice be served first and then, if there is a failure to
comply, the matter can be prosecuted. The fine can be as much as $500,000 or the
defendant can also be imprisoned, he stated.

But the NEPA boss does not believe that enforcement can by itself deal with the
problem, as there was also a social element to tyre burning.

Pointing out that there were many individuals who earn a livelihood from the
practice, he said that a proposal has been made to stop sending tyres to the
Riverton landfill.

He said that NEPA has been trying to find a solution and is in the process of setting
up a high-level meeting of stakeholders to discuss the problem.

Individuals expected to participate in this meeting include St Andrew Western

Member of Parliament Anthony Hylton, Kingston Mayor Delroy Williams, councillors
of the affected areas as well as representatives from the National Solid Waste
Management Authority, the Environmental Unit of the Ministry of Health, and the
police.

In the meantime, Knight said NEPA is hoping to get a new air monitor for
Washington Gardens by March.

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18 Comments Jamaica Observer 

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PhilT McNasty • a year ago

KMDT! Yuh telling me that the neighbours nuh smell and report
it? Maybe because the entire city smells like burnt coal and
sewage anyway. True! If I'm sleeping coming into Kingston that
smell usually wakes me.
4△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

TE > PhilT McNasty • a year ago

We are a set of jokers in this country. We have issues
where the media and others turn a blind eye; like this
issue, the squatting problem, the wanton take over of our
sidewalks by vendors of all sorts in all major towns and
cities, leaving little opportunity for the free movement of
pedestrians. Just recently a blind person was killed
because he overturned somebody's wares just trying to
make his way.
The problem with this nasty pollution has been there for
years, yet nothing happens.
The media only gets worked up if in their opinion Mr.
Holness dis the judiciary by only appointing an acting
Chief Justice but mum is the word on the decay of the
country in almost every other area.
2△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

noshel • a year ago

This is real Jamaica, just like how the police are unable to catch
a criminal standing next to them may be because they don't have
a picture of him they just have a nick name and intelligence
gathering is too much of a work, so is this issue where "officials "
just sit in their office and hope that the tire burning site will just
walk up and said here I am!.
These people are too lazy or may be incompetent.
2△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Abigail B • a year ago

hope this is resolved asap
3△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Jim Kelly • a year ago

How many of the people mentioned in the above article resides in
the affected areas? This explains why the problem continues.
3△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Defender • a year ago

"officials are yet to locate the site of the activity."

Really??
2△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

DDT • a year ago

We have a culture of screwing up anything that is meant for
good. So simple solution is to ban the scrap metal and copper
exports if not already done.

That would stop the need to burn tires (air pollution) and copper
theft from the telecom companies.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

MarriedHonestFemale • a year ago

There are too many people involved in this issue for no solution
to be put forward. Hope it gets resolved soon.
3△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

XAMYCA • a year ago

Strange that so much pollution is being generated by this burning
yet nobody can find out where it coming from... then air monitor
bruk dung since 2015 but dem getting one this month.. aay bwoy.
4△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Dully • a year ago

NEPA barks with no bite cause a STINKY situation in Kingston 6
caused by the Water Commission allowing untreated sewage
sometimes to be dumped in a gully running alongside Wellington
Avenue.Going on and off for more than a decade. Communities
like Callaloo Mews, Washington Gardens, Riverton Meadows,
and Cooreville in St Andrew don't hold your breath but I wish you
all the luck available because I know persons who had to sell
their properties and run to save their lives.
4△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

guest • a year ago

why unu getting unu panties in a bunch just relax healthcare is
free
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

candle light > guest • a year ago

rubbish ....this is no joking matter.....we don't need any
clown comm4ent here...
3△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

guest > candle light • a year ago

so stop commenting clown
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

PhilOiseaubay • a year ago

Things that no one would even think of getting away with in
others countries are just the days activities in J'ca.
Officials who cannot find the source should be fired with undue
haste & prejudice. Why is it that J'cans love excusing officials of
accountability yet whine when things fall apart? Just what do they
think would have alternatively happen. J'cans are surely the
architects of their own demise.
3△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

renewable_energy_advocate • a year ago

This is an ongoing problem, and the dump is only part of the
problem, and not most of the time.
There is a particular industrial plant at the six mile overpass, that
bellows smoke into the surrounding air all week long. This is the
main reason the air quality is so poor in that area. But NEPA
does nothing to enforce air regulation standards for industries.
No checks of the chimneys, no sanctions, no recommendations.
Until NEPA gets new leadership, Jamaica is doomed when it
comes to environmental protection.
And by the way, it is a constitutional right to "enjoy a clean
environment."
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Sunnyside up • a year ago

DWL>> wait... fire nuh easy fi locate?

and you tell me now.... the equipment hs not worked since

2015........ bull crap... so it nuh service sice instilled in 2012???
2△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Ares • a year ago

"NEPA has disclosed that it is unable to carry out the tests, as the
air quality monitor that was set up in Washington Gardens in
2012 has not worked since 2015." (Source: Observer)

The incompetence is real with this one. I really don't even see the
purpose of NEPA except to burn through taxpayer's money. Just
look around in downtown Kingston, HWT and other towns in
Jamaica and you'll see what I'm talking about. Many of our towns
are literally health hazards with garbage overflowing our streets &
gullies.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

Ashton E. Pitt • a year ago

I am not at all surprised by NEPA’s response...Does Jamaica
honestly have an environment protection agency??
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›

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