With all the scientific research, discoveries and expert accomplishments in today’s world, the list of things that cannot be done is constantly being narrowed down, yet some of the undertakings and successes remain mindboggling to laypersons, in particular, everywhere. This week, Wednesday, a town hall meeting was held by Global Green Energy (GGE) Ltd, an international corporation which is seeking Government’s approval to build and operate a waste-to-energy facility at the Corito landfill at no expense to Government, or any other entity on the island. The intention is to supply electricity – to ANGLEC – created from synthetic gas or fuel, from certain solid waste materials, to limit dependency on fossil fuel, thus making electricity cheaper for consumers, as well as reducing waste management costs and ensuring a safe and green environment.
It is certainly difficult for many laypersons to understand or fully grasp the scientific manner in which electrical energy can be generated from garbage but, really, this should rightly be left to the engineers and scientific minds behind the proposed project to sort out. Town hall meetings or public consultations, such as the one this week, are always important as they provide opportunities for all and sundry to acquaint themselves with matters of national interest and to have an input in the decision-making process. It appears that it is only some weeks ago that members of the public really became aware of the proposed project, through media reports, notwithstanding that Government and the investors had been holding discussions on the matter months ago. In fact, it is understood that, if all went well, the Memorandum of Understanding (the ‘Agreement’) should have taken effect on September 23, 2013 as the draft document purports.
The project sounds highly technical, laudable in its scope and intention, especially when it comes to providing a cheaper way of life for the people of Anguilla in terms of an important and demanding amenity as electricity. From all accounts, and certainly from the remarks expressed by the Minister of Infrastructure, who has already made known his support for the project, the Government on a whole is 100 percent supportive of the development. To be fair to the Minister, in particular, he referred to one proviso. It is provided that the Environmental Impact Assessment study states that the project, and the way the work is done (storage, mining and processing), will not pose any danger to residents, the island’s environment and touristic characteristics.
Certainly, it would be a stark contradiction, and pathetic counter- productive if, while trying to produce “a safe and green” solution to the waste management situation, and cheaper electricity, the environment is polluted by emissions of one type or other. However, while there appears to have been an admission that there will be some emissions, the company’s Chief Operations Officer stated in a press interview that the company is aware that at Corito “there are residents close by. We are very mindful of that so we have to change our system to fit the environment that we are going to be working in.”
Such understanding and commitment expressed by him are reassuring to persons with concerns. One such concern is whether odours from the excavation of many years of garbage wouldn’t be a big problem. But, the Environment Impact Assessment might hopefully provide the best and most reliable answers.
As mentioned before, the intentions of the crafters of the Corito project MOU was that it should have become effective last September. Obviously, somewhere there have been delays. The best judgment is that the delays could either have been at the feet of the Land Development Committee or the Tourism Investment Committee. Any such delay would have been well and good. The reason is that, as is the case with most, if not all, projects, there is no sense to rush into an agreement unless there is absolute clarity as to what to accept or reject before approval is given. This would avoid mistakes and problems manifesting themselves later on. It might then be too late to reverse the agreements and contracts. In order to show that attempts were made to safeguard Anguilla’s short and long term national interest, the investors were asked a number of questions by the Tourism Investment Committee. The questions which came to the attention of The Anguillian, and which should now be of public interest, include the following:
What are the terms and conditions of the ‘Power Purchase Agreement’ between ANGLEC and GGE and would the Government of Anguilla be privy to a copy?; Who will be responsible for establishing regulations relating to waste to energy production, and who will be mandated with monitoring such and any environmental concerns?; What current work have GGE done towards an environmental plan to mitigate and minimise any potential hazards?; How will by-products of the production process be managed?; How will emissions during mining be dealt with?; What is the current annual production of waste (does it exceed the required 7,000 metric tonnes of waste), and what would be the liability to the government if we fail to meet the required waste stream?; What is the current average daily consumption of electricity in MW.h, and does this exceed GGE’s proposed daily electricity production target of 94 MW.h?; What is the cost-benefit analysis to allow a ‘monopoly in our waste’?
It is believed that some or all of these questions might have already been answered. It is hoped that Wednesday’s town hall meeting (which was not well attended) raised other important questions which were satisfactorily replied to by all concerned. It is now left to see how useful was the public’s chance to participate in the discussion about turning garbage into electricity, the benefits to Anguilla and how the project will progress.
