July 10, 2008
Dear Editor,
I am writing this article because for years now, many years now under both PUP and UDP, we, the residents, who see it, feel it. For more than ten years now the town of Punta Gorda and surrounding communities have decided to empty our garbage just a little out of sight.
The problem is that the site the politicians choose to dump the garbage is in a sensitive wetland. We all realize that we need to put our garbage somewhere, but just out of sight of the residents is not going to cut it; not only is it not cutting it, but it’s very dangerous.
The site is located just a few minutes out of PG Town, but in an area that receives little traffic, so not many people even know where the garbage ends up. The sad part is that this garbage ends up right back on our table.
Presently, the garbage is dumped in a very low lying area next to the Rio Grande River. The Rio Grande River leads into the Port Honduras Marine Reserve, where all our fish, lobster and conch come from. We are sure that not just the biodegradables wash into the river, but old car batteries and other chemical containers as well.
When the rain comes like it usually does in PG, this is washed out into the sea. When this happens, the very fish we eat, end up eating the garbage and other poisons. Therefore, this poison ends up in our body.
We, the residents of Toledo, need to do something about the garbage situation. It is bad! It is out of control! Over the past five years there have been numerous studies showing that this is a bad site and that the site should be relocated. Studies after studies have been done, and thousands of dollars spent on the studies. This money could have been spent on building a new and proper site.
This is an appeal to the government to please do something about our garbage, because it is killing us softly. It is killing the young and it is killing the old. Surely, we do not want that for our citizens.
Wil Maheia
Punta Gorda Town
670-8307