We are one month into local government’s fourth term and the largest district in the country hasn’t gotten underway yet. Summer vacations and a possible appeal contesting the procedure have kept the statutory boards from being formed. This in turn has kept building permits from being issued in the Central Abaco District. All applications for shop licenses are also on hold. Allowing previous boards to remain functional until the next boards are formed would allow continuity to the system without disruptive breaks.
We have heard of challenges to the Hope Town District Council as two of the persons chosen by government to fill vacancies there were not believed to be registered in that district.
To our knowledge the budgeted amounts allocated to the various local government districts have not been made public but funding is expected to be the same as last year.
This may be acceptable for districts which have static economies. However, Central Abaco has a growing and vibrant economy as well as an acknowledged increase in our population.
We will look at one example where creative thinking and a reallocation of financial resources may be necessary to take care of town requirements. This process may be required by all districts on Abaco.
Twenty residents of Central Pines Subdivision recently met to lobby the Dundas Town Committee for garbage pick-up as required in the Local Government Act. The 22 residences now occupied there have not been included in the Dundas Town garbage collection since they began living there about a year ago. There are another 28 houses under construction in the subdivision.
The chairman of the Dundas Town Committee is new to the system but was led to understand that no additional funds are being received which would imply that garbage collection will not be provided. However, residential garbage collection is a required service to be provided by local government. How Dundas Town resolves its garbage pickup is a problem for them to solve between the residents and their town committee members.
Murphy Town has a similar challenge with the residents of Great Cistern who are requesting garbage collection. Previously the narrow rough road was the excuse for not providing trash collection to this area. However, the road was recently paved and the residents ther want regular garbage pickup.
Marsh Harbour has its extra garbage to pickup. That town has to contend with the residential trash from the 3,000 to 6,000 residents living in The Mud and Pigeon Peas settlements.
The Act requires town meetings between the committee and town residents to determine the needs and wants of the residents. Meetings have occasionally been held but rarely has the focus been on how to use the available money. Councillors and Town Committee members have usually allocated funds at their own discretion on the basis that they were elected to make these decisions.
Dundas Town residents may decide that garbage collection is more important than other functions that are in the budget. The Town Committee would then have to decide how to reallocate their available funds to increase funding for some essential services while decreasing other expenses. There is a tendency to maintain existing service levels and complain that services cannot be expanded. It well may be that service “A” must be expanded at the expense of service “B”.
Assuming that funding is not increased, each town committee will have to take a hard look at its budget and consider reorganizing their priorities. Many of our towns will have to go through similar exercises to decide what are essential services and what can be trimmed. Contracts will have to be examined carefully to see that the contracted job warrants the amount being paid or perhaps if the job requirements can be reduced with a corresponding reduction in cost.
New sanitary land fill
It is quite possible that by early next year, the new land fill inland from Snake Cay may be in operation and all garbage-related contracts on Abaco will have to be reviewed to accommodate this change. For Central Abaco it may mean that more money becomes available as the existing dump would no longer need to be maintained. This presently exceeds $60,000 per year. There is also the chance that there will be less money as existing contracts for collection are adjusted to compensate for the extra distance to the landfill.
It has not yet been announced how this facility will be managed or which agency will be responsible for its maintenance. It is assumed that a new landfill management agency will be formed under the administration of Environmental Health or perhaps the Ministry of Works which would put the management expenses in the hands of central government. It will require a staff of several persons to operate heavy equipment, to ensure correct dumping and to staff the gate and collect the tipping fee.
Small loads of household trash may be accepted free of charge but truck loads are expected to pay a fee which will require a collection system or a bookkeeping scheme of some sort.
The last information on this landfill indicated it will process all trash island wide - from Crown Haven to Sandy Point including Hope Town, Man-O-War and Guana Cay. These three island towns now ship their trash to the Central Abaco dump on the scheduled freight barges serving those towns. It is not clear how Green Turtle Cay fits into this arrangement as that town still has a disposal site on the cay.
The collection, shipping and disposal of garbage and trash is a growing challenge for our communities. As Abaco continues to grow and expand, so does the garbage. Our booming construction industry and the expanding business community also generate increased amounts of trash. The two hurricanes last year caused further debris to go to the dump. Another burden comes from the Mud and Pigeon Peas communities which are just now being provided with commercial bins for garbage removal.
Incidentally, the Mud and Pigeon Peas communities are to be commended for their efforts at cleaning up their settlements which are noticeably cleaner. This is due to the recent efforts of the Department of Environmental Health and several world health organizations, PAHOE, ECHO and others working with residents there. Five large community bins were donated and it now remains for local government to arrange for the routine removal of this trash.
Our newly elected Town Committees and Councils will have to review their needs and priorities and attempt to match these with the available funds. Some town and area maintenance may have to be downsized. Perhaps the keepers of our budget in Nassau will respond to our dilemma and loosen the purse strings. It was recently stated by MP Sidney Stubbs that Abaco contributes $3.2 million a month to the Public Treasury. Abaco’s growth may require that a larger share is to be returned.
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