Clean up Brings Added Value

As journalists took advantage of this week’s guided tour of Grand Cayman’s dump sites, they learned that all was more than meets the eye, as the clean-up operation creates jobs and transforms garbage into useful byproducts.

Stopping at the West Bay dump site on Northwest Point Road, the group, led by Operations Manager Mark Scotland, saw the “tub grinder” in action, as it pulverised massive pieces of debris within minutes.

“The best part of the grinder is its ability to reduce debris to only 20-30%of its bulk, while leaving something useful in the form of mulch,” said Mr. Scotland. This will ultimately be made available to the public.

Mr. Scotland further praised the clean-up effort for creating job and business opportunities for residents: “More than 100 local trucks are registered with MC Restoration for purposes of debris removal. The operation provides an additional 200 or more persons with work and, while this number will lessen as the operation winds down, the processing of resulting debris will continue to create work.”

So far more than 160,000 cubic feet of debris has been removed under the CIRO operation. (MC Restoration has been contracted to remove up to 300,000 cubic feet of debris, the processing of which it is responsible.)

Currently three dump sites remain open—one each in West Bay, Bodden Town and East End. Mr. Scotland emphasized that the Spotts-Newlands site will remain closed.

Derelict vehicles are all taken to a separate site, located off Sparky Drive, behind CUC. More than 1,000 already await soon-to-be commenced processing. All oils, fuel and other hazardous materials will be removed before vehicles are readied for off-island removal, Mr. Scotland said.