Illegally dumped office equipment highlights littering problem

The recent discovery of discarded office equipment metres away from the George Town landfill has once again highlighted the issue of illegal dumping and littering.

Though the Department of Environmental Health, in August celebrated its first successful littering conviction, this has not stopped illegal dumpers from indiscriminately littering.

A member of the public shared images of the dumped office items with the Cayman Compass, and called for action against the offenders.

George Town North MP Joey Hew also highlighted the illegally dumped equipment – which was left on a dyke road south of the Airport Connector Road off the Esterley Tibbetts Highway – on his social media page in the hopes of tracking down the offender.

He expressed disappointment that such acts continue.

These supplied images show the illegally dumped equipment.

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“This has become extremely annoying as it’s almost on a daily basis you see these things. I’m hoping that the authorities at some level or some department will start to take on this issue as a matter of importance and start to properly investigate these occurrences and then prosecute the individuals,” he told the Cayman Compass Monday via WhatsApp.

He posted that he saw the illegal dumped items while walking his dog and found it “frustrating, the complete disregard for our environment, our land, our home”.

DEH to investigate

Richard Simms, director at the Department of Environmental Health, when contacted by the Compass about the situation, said he will pass the information on for internal investigation.

Hew said when driving around Cayman communities illegal dumped items are often seen and normally “it is vegetative matter where persons are too lazy to continue on to the landfill”.

However, he said in this case very specific items were dumped which included Kirk Office labels and a carpet which is “obviously very recognizable”.

“I felt that with some publicity, perhaps, the business that paid someone to dump these [items] would report that individual or at a minimum have the individual go and collect them and take them to the landfill,” he said.

Prosecutions needed to stop illegal practice

He pointed out that last year there was an individual who dumped vegetative matter along the bypass and, after inspection, the individual’s payslip was found.

“We handed it over to the police, and they contacted the gentleman who came and cleaned it up which is fair enough. But I was disappointed that we did not prosecute,” he said.

Hew pointed out that even government property is not respected as dumpers have been consistently discarding garbage illegally on the corner of Gresscott Lane and Rock Hole Road.

“DEH has cleaned it up for me several times, but it is obvious people are dumping their household garbage and predominantly beer and alcohol bottles. It is disgraceful. I have requested bins. I have requested investigations. We clean it up. I’ve paid to clean it up. I’ve cleaned it up myself, we had DEH clean it up and one week later, it is back again,” he said.

In the case of the office equipment Hew said he believes this should not be the end of the matter.

“Until we start prosecuting people to the fullest extent of the law in everything, in this illegal garbage and illegal tinting of windows, speeding, illegal music, loud music et cetera, we are going to become more and more a lawless society,” he said.