Jamaica Says Significant Progress Made in Controlling Landfill Fire

Above: ODPEM Director General Ronald Jackson and Col. Allan Douglas, Director of Operations at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (JIS Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management said conditions at the ongoing fire at Riverton Landfill are “significantly improved and continuing to get better.”

That was the description given by Ronald Jackson, the ODPEM’s director general, in a press briefing today at the Office of the Prime Minister.

“We met the 72-hour timeline, and there are all indications that the five-day timeline will be intact,” he said.

According to Jackson, he was confident that smoke at the landfill would be contained within another two days.

“We recognise and share with the general public that as we seek to bring this matter to an end, there will be periods of discomfort, certainly for members of the public within the immediate confines of the dump,” he said. “It is significantly troubling late at night and early mornings, because water vapour particles tend to trap the smoke within that vicinity.”

The government began its first phase of operations at the landfill on Sunday.

“We recognise that there are persons who are affected, and we continue to recommend that they follow the health precautions, and utilise the help hotline,” he said.

Last weekend, the ODPEM called in the Jamaica Defence Force to help control the fire. At that time, the agency predicted that the fire would be “tamed” within two to three days.

Windy conditions have made that proposition exceedingly difficult, however.

The cost of the controlling the fire could be as high as $700,000, according to Local Government Minister Noel Arscott.