In order to relieve private St. John trash haulers of the added expense of trucking their solid waste to the Bovoni landfill on St. Thomas, Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd wants the Public Works Department to utilize at lease some of the four surplus barges given to the government in the aftermath of Hurricane Marilyn.
Liburd said he raised the issue with Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson on Monday. "I suggested to the commissioner in writing, and I spoke to him," the senator-at-large said. He is urging "that we look at the possibility of using the old barges that were given to the government, and more or less set up a schedule for one or two or three days, so they can assist those drivers on St. John in taking their garbage to St. Thomas."
The four surplus U.S. Navy barges were donated by the federal government to the territorial government shortly after the 1995-1996 hurricane season. In the aftermath of Marilyn, the vessels were used to transport emergency supplies between St. Croix and St. Thomas. In 1998, they were used to transport emergency services units to Hassel Island to battle a three-day brush fire.
According to Liburd, Thompson said he would explore the possibilities of pressing the barges into service on St. John and come back with an answer in a few days.
At a public meeting on Friday night, Public Works officials told St. John haulers that the compactor at the island's transfer station would likely remain out of service until March or April. The breakdown of the compactor led to the closing of the transfer station last month, which resulted in the government telling private haulers to join those under government contract in transporting their truckloads of solid waste and debris to St. Thomas at their own expense.
With the price of doing business already high on St. John, Liburd said, having to pay barge fees is an undue hardship for private haulers.