Beetham landfill must change

There is no question that the Beetham Landfill has to be relocated and/or transformed. The largest of Trinidad's three main landfills, Beetham has already operated far beyond its intended lifespan; its physical capacity is exhausted and its environmental liability continues to compound. The site receives around 500 tonnes of waste daily—roughly twice that of the other sites—but it lacks bottom liners to catch toxic liquid and gas-capturing networks to trap methane. Keeping this landfill in its current state poses unacceptable long-term costs, including to residents of Beetham Gardens itself. MP Kareem Marcelle rightly notes that Beetham Gardens is vulnerable to heavy traffic corridors (Beetham Highway, Priority Bus Route), the dump, and industrial operations. The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and Dr Joanne Paul (director, T&T Cancer Society) have itemised the chronic health hazards associated with the site: open burning releases carcinogens, dioxins, microplastics, and persistent chemical compounds into the air, soil, and water. Further, because Beetham lies on the doorstep of the capital and borders marine ecosystems, airborne pollutants drift across urban corridors, while untreated leachate seeps into the Gulf of Paria. The question is how to implement an urgent environmental and public health solution in a way that limits the social and economic fallout for not only the hundreds who earn a living off the dump, but also the thousands in the receiving communities in and around Forres Park. Prior to 1983, the Beetham site, aka the La Basse, operated as an unmanaged, open-burning dump. In 1980, the Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL) was established, and by 1983, it took over the site to implement controlled landfilling techniques (compacting waste and applying cover material). SWMCOL has proposed an Integrated Sustainable Solid Waste Management System (ISSWMS) that shifts from the 'dumping' model to a circular economy. Its strategy hinges on consolidating final waste disposal into a centralised, modern sanitary landfill at Forres Park while converting urban sites like Beetham and Guanapo into Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) and transfer stations. Informal workers should not bear the cost of the environmental transition. Scavengers at Beetham have historically served as T&T's primary recycling system—diverting metals, plastics, and reusable goods from the waste stream at great personal health risk. One big step forward would be to formally bind any operating entity at the proposed Beetham Separation Facility to offer manual sorting, site security, and maintenance jobs to current registered landfill workers. Targeted adult literacy, occupational safety training, and administrative assistance (e.g., getting IDs, bank accounts, and expunging minor criminal records) are dignified ways to help informal workers transition onto formal payrolls and uplift themselves while the facility is also uplifted. That said, Forres Park is not a pristine blank slate. Residents near that site have long complained of severe odours, improper dumping along access roads, illegal dumping of animal guts and toxic liquids, and unregulated access. It cannot be beyond modern T&T to engineer and implement protections for environmental and public health as well as people.