While some residents continue to report having bulk waste in their communities left behind from the recent flooding deluge, the St Helena Eco-park has been cleaned up in time to facilitate Divali celebrations this evening.
The site was used as a temporary dumping ground for bulk waste discarded by residents affected by the October 19-21 flooding but had been also under siege by scavengers who dug through discarded items in search of valuables last week.
But in an interview yesterday, Local Government Minister Kasim Hosein said he successfully supervised the cleaning up of the park by employees from the San Fernando City Corporation, Port-of-Spain City Corporation, Arima Borough Corporation, CEPEP and corporate volunteers.
"The work was a 24/7 exercise and was completed at 1.10 am yesterday (Saturday)," Hosein said.
Commending the hard work of the team for restoring the park in time for Divali celebration, Hosein said, “I would like to applaud Gerard Ramharack, Sanitation Foreman III and workers from the San Fernando City Corporation, Port-of-Spain Corporation, Arima Borough Corporation and CEPEP, as well as corporate volunteers Ricon Limited, General Earth Movers and Laing for going beyond the call of duty to ensure that this eco-park was restored for the residents of St Helena and surroundings to utilise for their Divali festivities.”
He also commended the 14 municipal corporations for working together after the devastating October floods.
Hosein said the park was used to temporarily store all damaged household items and discarded waste left in the wake of the floods.
Addressing the actual clean-up in a release, Ramharack said, “Over 350 loads were removed from the St Helena Eco-Park, with 20 loads going to Forest Park, another 20 loads to Beetham and the remainder going to the Guanapo landfill.
"Clean-up crews worked tirelessly to ensure that the park was cleaned and restored before Divali, as requested by Minister and we are happy that this was achieved."
President of the eco-park Bobby Maraj also expressed his appreciation to the team, saying, “The removal of the debris was done in a very efficient and timely manner. I wish to thank Ramharack and his team for their coordinated efforts which ensured that our Divali function will kick off as planned later today (Sunday).”
Hosein said the Divali to Christmas clean-up will continue across all municipalities. He urged citizens to liaise with their local government representatives to ensure efficient collection of bulk/white waste.