BARBADOS may soon have an incinerator.

Though he gave no timetable, Minister of Health Senator Phillip Goddard told the Daily Nation yesterday that he was ready to talk to people interested in the construction of one.

"What we are going to do is go out and ask for Ôexpressions of interest' and I've instructed my officials to do that in an appropriate way," he said.

Goddard said already several people had expressed interest. Not citing a specific number, he added that "several" meant "more than two and less than 20".

The DAILY Nation understands that some parties who expressed interest in 1994 had again approached Government on the matter, but the minister said he wanted to ensure the process was transparent and above board, and that was why there would be a call for expressions of interest.

Caribbean Entrepreneur Of The Year, Ralph "Bizzy" Williams, last year made a public offer to build a national incinerator at no cost to the Government on a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) contract.

Despite the expressions of interest and Government's willing ear, Goddard made it clear Cabinet had not decided on the construction of such a unit.

"Cabinet has expressed the view that we should be looking at incineration, but to say that Cabinet has agreed to the construction of an incineration is not so because we do not know enough about it.

"(What we do know) is that the technology has moved so rapidly and changed so much in the last six years that the whole process of incineration today is significantly different to that of 1994, or 1990, so your decision-making process would have to be different."

In the meantime, Mangrove Pond Landfill is being extended to take garbage for another three years, which provides sufficient time for remedial work at the new Greenland landfill to be completed so it can receive garbage.