Blue Hills/Wheeland Residents Could Soon Breathe Easier

There is good news on the horizon for especially the people of Wheeland and Blue Hills who have been chronically suffering from unpleasant fumes and smoke emanating from the Landfill, as member of Parliament for Wheeland Hon. Kyle Knowles has announced plans to remedy the issue beginning with the establishment of a taskforce.

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Hon. Kyle Knowles (second from right), Member of Parliament for Wheeland and Head of the Solid Waste Management Taskforce in discussion with his team on a visit to the Wheeland Landfill on Wednesday, April 13.

n a statement to the news media, the MP said that dialogue for improvement solid waste management in the Turks and Caicos Islands has begun in earnest, through the newly established Solid Waste Task Force of which he has been appointed chairman, with Jasmin “Jas” Walkin as deputy chairman.

He said the Task Force is made up of staff from the Ministry of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Health Department, and the Public Works Department.

MP Knowles revealed that the multi-disciplinary task force kickstarted its move to improving solid waste in the TCI by visiting the Wheeland Landfill to gather information geared to effectively resolve pressing issues affecting the community.

“In order to determine the best immediate course of action to address the ongoing solid waste situation, the team analyzed the condition of the site and explored the best ways of confronting existing problems at the site,” Knowles explained in the statement.

“Problems such as onsite burning, odour control, some operational procedures, including security and best practices for trash disposal were analyzed. Some methods of investigation explored were air quality testing, wind direction monitoring, mapping of the entire site, including active and inactive sections and the collection of baseline data through the investigation of current operational procedures for all sites,” Knowles said, describing the discussion as being fruitful, also announcing that several assignments would be carried out to fixing the vexing issue.

The Solid Waste Management Taskforce, chaired by Hon. Kyle Knowles, is seen in photo hammering out solutions for the solid waste disposal across the TCI, but especially the vexing Wheeland Landfill.

He stated that the Ministry of Health and Human Services has also embarked on an Integrated Solid Waste Management Project co-funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), to provide strategic planning and design of an improved Solid Waste Management System that would benefit all islands.

MP Knowles said he and the Ministry of Health and Human Services are committed to improving country-wide solid waste management and safeguarding the health and wellbeing of Turks and Caicos Islands residents.