News Releases

Environmental impact of Guanapo Landfill to be discussed at Community Meeting

For Release Upon Receipt - June 16, 2014

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – On Tuesday June 17, 2014, the Guanapo Community Development Group and members of the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, will convene for a Guanapo Landfill Community Meeting.   

The meeting’s objective is to provide preliminary results and project updates on the UWI/RDI-funded project on contaminant impacts from the Guanapo landfill. Residents will learn what their fellow residents have been engaged in within the area, and will have the opportunity to pose questions to the experts on the subject.

Speakers are Dr Denise Beckles, Environmental Chemist, UWI; Dr E. Monica Davis, Lecturer in Human Physiology, UWI, members of the Guanapo Community development Group, and representatives from SWMCOL and WASA.  

The Guanapo Landfill Community Meeting takes place at 5pm, at the church parking lot, Cemetery Street, Heights of Guanapo. The event is open to the general public, and no special invitation is required. 

For more information, please contact Dr Denise Beckles at 662-2002 ext. 83534, or denise.beckles@sta.uwi.edu

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More about the project 

“The impact of the contaminants produced by the Guanapo Landfill on the surrounding environment” was spearheaded by a group of researchers in the Department of Chemistry of The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine.  

Funded by The UWI-Trinidad and Tobago Research and Development Impact (RDI) Fund, the goal of this project is to “to assess the extent of contamination from the Guanapo Landfill to the air, water and soil, as well as identify the potential impacts of this contamination to ecological and human receptors.” The project falls directly in line with the solid waste management policy of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as with existing efforts by the Water Resources Agency and the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) to improve water quality in the Guanapo watershed. The results of this study will be used to guide recommendations to address the environmental and public health issues in the Heights of Guanapo district. 

About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with over 50,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation.

Website: http://www.uwi.edu/

 

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