The Solid Waste Management Corporation has affirmed that efforts are being made to ensure that waste from the GNV Excellent, which is docked at Port Zante with about 1500 students from Ross University in Dominica, are handled properly. SWMC Operations Officer Mr. Valentine Heyliger said the SWMC handles mainly the receipt of the waste at the landfill. Other entities handle the transport of such waste from the ship to the landfill in Conaree. “We have been taking municipal waste from around the 20th of October on a regular basis, maybe twice per week,” Heyliger said. “SKANDIS is the company that is being used by Ross University to do all the transportation of waste from the boat to the Conaree landfill.”

Mr. Heyliger also disclosed that when the waste arrives at the landfill, it is immediately buried in a specific location so as to remove any possibility of any form of contamination. “We treat the ship waste in a special way. Their (waste) doesn’t drive through town; just straight to the landfill and the waste is covered up one time. We are treating it has (hazardous) waste. We don’t leave it exposed,” Heyliger explained. He added that the route to the landfill is along the Bay Road, onto the Kim Collins Highway and to the Conaree Landfill. The garbage is compacted by the bulldozer at the landfill and is buried immediately.

The SWMC official explained that that there is a procedure that is followed with the disposal of such waste, which includes the supervision of the process by an environment health officer. “This thing has to be certified by the Environmental Health Department. Once they give the notification that everything is ok, it’s allowed to be disposed of,” Mr. Heyliger said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Heyliger and Operations Supervisor Mr. Wilmon McCall went on board the vessel along with an environmental health officer to inspect the facilities on board the vessel. “We went on board the ship to see how they do things in terms of the facilities on board the ship. We went to see if they are conforming to international standards,” Heyliger disclosed.

Mr. Heyliger noted that crew members of GNV Excellent add another 120 persons to the 1500 student population onboard the GNV Excellent. He said ship authorities must provide ample notice for garbage disposal which is done every week.