Conaree Landfill under review for upgrade in sustainable land management practices

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, 10 December 2024 – The Ministry of Sustainable Development,
Environment, Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment is currently exploring options for
improving the sustainability of the Conaree Landfill during a stakeholder consultation held on Monday 9
December 2024 at the Solid Waste Management Conference Room.

The exercise is part of a six-month assessment, that began in July 2024, regarding the sustainability of the
landfills on both St. Kitts and Nevis. It is being facilitated by Professional Engineer, Robert Griesbach
who is also the Director for Energy Consulting at Hatch, a global engineering company that provides
technical and strategic services to clients in energy and infrastructure.

Griesbach, whose work is funded by the Canada-CARICOM Expert Deployment Mechanism (CCEDM)
in collaboration with the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, Climate Action and
Constituency Empowerment and the solid waste management authorities on both islands, offers technical
assistance to undertake an assessment of both landfills.

This includes assessing the operational structure including sustainability of the landfills and
revenue generation methods; formulating mitigative steps to enhance operations, explore
opportunities for recycling and the generation of waste-to-energy; and outlining training and,
health and safety standards, strengths, and areas for further improvement.

Additionally, the assistance will address specific needs to enhance policy dialogue in strategic areas;
facilitate inter-sector cooperation to meet stakeholder needs and interests; assess institutional capacity
limitations; better address overlapping issues and performance monitoring; and develop communication
and visibility to foster progress in the sector.

In the long-term, the technical assistance will help St. Kitts and Nevis in formulating and implementing a
national waste management strategy, to foster progress in developing a green economy, delivering
enhanced services and building capacity related to new technologies and the overall economics of the
sector.

During the workshop, stakeholders reviewed best practices for landfill management that are being
implemented in Barbados and Grand Cayman, to determine the feasibility of applying those options in St.
Kitts and Nevis.
A similar workshop will be held in Nevis for stakeholders there on Tuesday 10 December 2024.

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