Today’s news that land has been found to relocate 19 families living on sections of the landfill is most welcome especially for some 30 persons directly involved. After all, while questions can certainly be asked as to how they ended up living there in the first place, being told one will have to move without knowing where can hardly be called an attractive prospect.
It’s therefore completely correct to help these people find a solution, also from a humane point of view. They now not only have the possibility to occupy a prefabricated hurricane-resistant dwelling in the same general area at Foga, but can also choose to receive funds and find their own accommodations.
It’s not clear what amount the latter refers to, but considering rent and real estate prices on the island the availability of a relatively low-cost alternative is necessary.
This step is critical to the fire suppression and other future projects at the dump related to solving the country’s waste management issue. The mining and solution of the current “Mount Trash” will now be handled under the recovery programme to be financed from the Dutch-sponsored Trust Fund.
Because this was separated from the plans to process and no longer bury garbage in the future, EnviroGreen’s proposed waste-to-energy plant can now deliver electricity at a price of 0.18 instead of 0.26 Netherlands Antilles guilders per kilowatt-hour, making it much more interesting for utilities provider GEBE. This price certainly seems reasonable considering that another company had earlier offered a rate of US $0.25.
While time is short, the advice by visiting World Bank executive Axel van Trotsenburg to have all options on the table before proceeding in any direction is well-taken. Important is to not dismiss ideas just because they may come from others, but rather keep an open mind.
