We can only hope that the present government gets re-elected otherwise there is a strong possibility all the money and time spent on coming up with a solution to our waste management problem will be for nothing.

I have lost count on the number of studies and monies spent over the many years and changes in government and we still do not have a concrete solution.

Even if the procurement process to find a specialist partner that can deliver the government’s garbage outline business case it will be at the very least four more years before we have a new and efficient waste facility.

There are more questions than answers in the latest outline and the main one being who will finance it?

The document presented is very impressive, almost overwhelmingly, 300 pages to read with lots of pretty diagrams and there is no way I am able to digest all of it.

The main finding is to have a public-private partnership rather than keeping the entire project in public hands. Also, we the public, have to be educated in reducing the waste we produce each day.

I am interested how that will be done and if penalties for non compliance with the education will be implemented.

The promotion of recycling is a key element in the business case study and funding from fees is a long way from funding the project. Even if government is able to sell the power from the waste-to-energy facility to our electricity suppler CUC monies raised from that will be nowhere near enough.

How will this be addressed is not answered at all and taxes on us would appear to me to be the only solution. Whether it is direct or indirect.

With all the other major projects government have promised they will embark on I can see major problems ahead.

Recycling has been included in the study but even that will not come into the equation until at least ten years after the waste-to-energy facility has come to fruition.

So what is the answer? I don’t know. But doing nothing, as pointed out in the study, is not the solution.

As to finding a private partner? Is it back to Mr. Dart?

Or is that suggestion a waste of time?