Conference Raises Eyebrows about Ship-Generated Wastes

The National Solid Waste Management Authority might have to rethink its tipping fee requirement for visiting ships in light of the country’s ratification of the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Pollution Convention (MARPOL) which among other things, works to prevent waste disposal in the Caribbean Sea.

The Regional Activity Center/Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Information and Training Centre for the Wider Caribbean Region (RAC/REMPEITC-Caribe), together with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) through its Caribbean Environment Program conducted a two-day seminar last week on the ratification and implementation of Annex V of MARPOL.

Annex V is being highlighted to protect the marine environment from illegal dumping of garbage from ships. The M/V Freewinds, a cruise ship, was the host of the seminars.

The seminar attendants ran the gamut of government policymakers, NGOs, and private organizations related to health, waste management, environment protection, developmental control, fisheries, and coastal defense.

Students from the Antigua State College, the Antigua Girls’ High and Antigua Grammar School were invited. Antigua was the last port to be visited during the past two weeks of seminars given around the Caribbean. The other islands were St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, and St. Kitts.

National Solid Waste Management Authority Manager Denise Roberts said that revision might become a consideration now that the extra features of the conventions have to be put in place as the country would like to do its part in proper waste disposal.