| Date: Tue 29-Nov-1994 Paper Page: 40 Publication: Daily Nation Byline: Terry Ally GOVERNMENT has selected a new dumping site for fish and animal offal -- the sea. Health Minister Liz Thompson recently announced that dumping of fish gut, chicken and cow bellies and scraps from slaughterhouses, would be halted at the Mangrove Pond landfill by month end. The landfill receives 100 tonnes a week of offal, which is said to have been a contributor to the stench which sometimes emanates from the dump. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Ruall Harris, told the DAILY NATION that of the three options available, dumping at sea was the most feasible in the short term. The other two options are conversion into animal feed and incineration, neither of which can be effected by the deadline of December 1, Harris said. The landfill will be closed "at a date to be announced", the minister said. However, it is likely to remain put for at least another year -- the length of time experts said it would take to prepare another site or set up an incinerator. Manager of the Coastal Conservation Project Unit, Dr. Leonard Nurse, said that the offal could be dumped "harmlessly" to the marine environment if it is done under "strictly controlled conditions". Under the London Dumping Convention, Barbados would be permitted to dispose the offal at sea. The Ministry of Health would be required, under the Convention, to issue the necessary permits.
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