They are battling huge mosquitoes and rats ... but the clean-up continues

PROVIDED WITH cleaning tools and safety gear, the workers involved in the clean-up of Refuge Cay were battling mosquitoes and contending with rats three weeks into their task of removing of decades of primarily plastic waste from the edges of the cay.

“We’ve cleared about 300 bags of garbage off the cay daily, and we’ve covered about 270 metres so far. We’ve seen a lot of plastic bottles, and this is compounded by the plastic bags which are underneath and are wet. When I have a team that goes over the top, I have another team that follows that goes into the mud and gets out the bags, so it’s been really hard. It’s really difficult,” Kisson told The Gleaner during a recent visit to the cay.

PROJECT DURATION

The clean-up of Refuge Cay is projected to last one year, with the rehabilitation of the coral expected to take five years, and all of this is being funded by Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL), in keeping with its corporate social responsibility (CSR), Marketing and Communications Manager Trevesa DaSilva explained.

Since starting operations as concessionaire of the Port of Kingston in 2016, the company has engaged with the fisherfolk of the Kingston Harbour as part of its CSR, recognising that the impact of its operations (primarily dredging) cannot be divorced from the interest of other stakeholders.

“More specifically, KFTL invested human and financial resources with the fisherfolk through a series of community meetings, seminars, etc., where we shared concerns on the sustainability of the fisheries resources in the harbour for their future generations,” DaSilva told The Gleaner.

This discarded freezer, which found its way on to Refuge Cay, serves as makeshift table for the workers engaged in the massive clean-up effort before being shipped out.