OUTRAGE
For months, Sargassum seaweed has accumulated on the Sandy Hill Beach, as on other beaches. Like in previous years, when this menace first started drifting to shore, some community members individually, or as a group, attempted to clear the shoreline with rakes and other non-mechanical means.
However, approximately four months ago, the seaweed began to wash in with an unending vengeance, making non-mechanical removal impossible. Along with the unsightly seaweed mountains sprouting up along the shoreline, an awful smell and noxious fumes emitted through the area for miles. What did the government do or say to the affected communities??? Absolutely nothing!!
Other surrounding islands released updates as to how they were addressing the health and tourist-affecting issue caused by the influx of sargassum. As I couldn’t hear a word from those in charge of these issues in Anguilla, I visited the Environmental Office to inquire about their plan to address the issue. I left believing that they were in the process of securing funds from the government to clear the adversely affected beaches. The approach was rational and reasoned. So the residents waited and waited for action….absolute silence and no action!
Thanks goodness, over the past two months community leaders began to show up on the beach with hired mechanical equipment and drivers to systematically pull the mountains of sludge out of the water and scrape the piles of seaweed from the shoreline. They aggregated it into piles, spreading some of the non-smelly seaweed over Irma-exposed rocks, piling some against Irma-eroded areas and burying the remaining nasty sludge. As the mountains of accumulated seaweed lessened, the community started returning to the beach, able once again to enjoy it.
During a finalized community cleanup this past weekend, personnel from the Environmental Office showed up on the beach to halt the burying of the sludge because the dug holes did not meet the Department’s regulation distance from the shoreline or depth. The front loader driver re-filled the hole with sand, and began to track the sludge to the required distance, making sludge dunes. However, this action required more time which caused the private funding dollars to run out before the job could be completed.
I am outraged! We have a serious environmental problem on which the government has been silent. In addition to looking and smelling like ****, the decaying seaweed emits noxious and dangerous fumes which cause health issues. And when we try to help ourselves because there is no assistance coming from the government, those in charge step in to recite and enforce non-helpful regulations. REALLY??
Signed
Sandy Hill Resident
