Stop the hazardous waste, CARICOM demands

Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr. Denzil Douglas, has called for an immediate halt to the transit of radioactive material through the Caribbean Sea, a practice he said is “unacceptable and injurious.”

In a statement condemning the practice, Dr. Douglas who is the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, said the practice has become intolerable to the governments and people of the Caribbean, as it compromises the region’s rich but fragile ecosystem, and puts people living in the Caribbean at risk.

The call to halt the transit of the waste through the Caribbean Sea has come in the wake of a new shipment of Vitrified High Level Waste that will leave the United Kingdom, this week, for Japan through the Caribbean.

Dr. Douglas said that CARICOM remains immutable in its opposition to the passage of shipments of such material through the Caribbean Sea, which is recognised by the United Nations as a Special Area in the context of Sustainable Development.

“The environmental, socio-economic and cultural identity of CARICOM is dependent on the integrity of the Sea from which the region takes its name. CARICOM vehemently condemns as unacceptable and injurious, the practice by the United Kingdom, France and Japan of transporting hazardous waste through the Caribbean Sea, thus risking the very existence of the People of the Caribbean,” he said.

“This ongoing practice is intolerable to the People and Governments of CARICOM. The Community urges all those involved in making these shipments, to halt them immediately.”

Source: Caribbean360