Dump protest signs removed

Opponents to the creation of a dump in Bodden Town say dozens of their protest signs have been stolen. 

The Coalition to Keep Bodden Town Dump Free reported the disappearance of the signs from the roadside and from local yards to Bodden Town police officers Monday and is demanding a full investigation. 

“We vehemently condemn this malicious action perpetrated against opponents of the government/Dart plan to relocate the George Town dump to Bodden Town,” said Alain Beiner, a leader of the Coalition to Keep Bodden Town Dump Free.  

“The Coalition signs were systematically removed and taken away. This is an attack against ourdemocratic right of expression. We also call on government and Dart to condemn this theft, to disassociate themselves from this action, and to appeal to their supporters to respect our right to disagree,” Mr. Beiner said. 

Gregg Anderson, another Coalition leader, said the signs had been taken from local residents’ private property and described the theft of the signs as a violation of residents’ “right to free speech and peaceful dissension” and also of private property rights. 

“Our signs were posted on our supporters’ property, as is their right,” he said, adding the signs were in place on Sunday evening and had since disappeared. 

Police confirmed that a report of the theft of about 25 signs was made to them Monday morning. 

According to the Planning Department, the signs required planning permission to be erected, which they did not have. However, Ron Sanderson, assistant director of the Planning Department, said his department had not removed the signs. Mr. Anderson said that by Monday afternoon, no eye witnesses of the removal of the signs had come forward.  

“I wish there were eye witnesses. Then we could give more information to the police,” he said. 

The removal of the signs is also having an economic impact on the protest group.  

“Producing our yard signs is a costly effort and this theft is a serious blow to our very modest financial resources,” Mr. Anderson said. “We rely completely on the generous donations of our hard working supporters, and this is money robbed from their pockets. We don’t have the financial resources of the government/Dart PR machine, but this attack against our campaign will not shut us up.” 

In a news release circulated Monday, the group encouraged supporters from whose property the signs were taken to individually contact the police about the thefts. In the meantime, the coalition is ordering new signs and intends to replace all those that were removed. 

It also plans to launch a fund drive to recoup the cost of the signs and is appealing to opponents of the dump relocation to Bodden Town to help. 

The Coalition’s standpoint is that the location of the dump should not be moved from Mount Trashmore in George Town to Bodden Town.  

Mr. Anderson said: “We fully support the option selected by the Central Tenders Committee, favoured by independent engineers, and adopted by this very same government before its inexplicable about-face – a waste-to-energy facility, proper management of the [George Town] dump, and a concerted recycling programme by government. This is also the conclusion of the 2008 APEC Engineering study commissioned by government.” 

The new location for the solid-waste facility is earmarked for an area of land owned by Dart between Bodden Town and Breakers, near two quarries and the Midland Acres subdivision. 

The plan to close and remediate the 68-acre dump at George Town and open a new facility in Bodden Town is part of a wide-ranging infrastructure programme by the ForCayman Investment Alliance – a partnership between Dart and the government.