**BASSETERRE, St. Kitts** – The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, Climate Action, and Constituency Empowerment is currently exploring options to improve the sustainability of the Conaree Landfill. This initiative is part of a stakeholder consultation held on Monday, December 9, 2024, at the Solid Waste Management Conference Room.
The consultation is part of a six-month assessment that began in July 2024. It focuses on the sustainability of the landfills on St. Kitts and Nevis. Professional Engineer Robert Griesbach, the Director of Energy Consulting at Hatch, a global engineering company that offers technical and strategic services, is facilitating this assessment.
Griesbach’s work is funded by the Canada-CARICOM Expert Deployment Mechanism (CCEDM) in collaboration with the Ministry of Sustainable Development and the solid waste management authorities on both islands. He is providing technical assistance to evaluate the operational structure and sustainability of the landfills and methods for revenue generation.
The assessment will also involve identifying steps to improve operations, exploring recycling opportunities and waste-to-energy generation, and outlining necessary training, health and safety standards, strengths, and areas for improvement.
In addition, the assistance will address specific needs to enhance policy dialogue in key areas, facilitate inter-sector cooperation to meet stakeholder needs, and assess institutional capacity limitations. It will also aim to better address overlapping issues, monitor performance, and improve communication to foster progress in the sector.
In the long term, this technical assistance will support St. Kitts and Nevis in developing and implementing a national waste management strategy. This strategy aims to promote a green economy, enhance service delivery, and build capacity related to new technologies and the economic aspects of the sector.
During the workshop, stakeholders examined best practices for landfill management currently implemented in Barbados and Grand Cayman to assess their feasibility for St. Kitts and Nevis. A similar workshop is scheduled for stakeholders in Nevis on Tuesday, December 10, 2024.