EMA: Air quality improves despite smoke from Beetham landfill

While thick clouds of smoke rolled across the Beetham highway and downtown Port of Spain from fires on the Beetham landfill, on Friday the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) reported that the air quality is gradually improving.

The fire which began on Wednesday night and continued throughout Friday led to large plumes of smoke briefly obscuring vision on the highway and the Port of Spain skyline.

A media release from the EMA reported that while the air quality was still considered unhealthy, the authority's Air Quality Monitoring Station on the Beetham noticed an improvement from very unhealthy levels.

Despite this improvement, the authority continued to urge the public to show caution by people in the area.

"Particularly the elderly, children, and those with respiratory ailments. The high reading is due primarily to the smoke and particulate matter associated with the fire at the Beetham landfill.

"The EMA has advised all relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Health, and continues to liaise closely with partner agencies, such as Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) to obtain status updates."

A fire officer said fires which began on Wednesday night on the Beetham landfill continued up to Friday afternoon.

He said fire officers were closely monitoring the situation with officials from the Solid Waste Management Co Ltd (SWMCOL) on how to control the blaze but noted that reignition of some fires was possible.

"It's ongoing at this point in time.

"It's really a work in progress and that type of fire it depends on a lot of different factors so we need to be careful and take it one day at a time."

The fire officer also said it was difficult to predict how long the fires would continue for.

On Friday afternoon and spoke with dump workers who said the thick smoke from the fire made it difficult to get any work done.

"The boss just called us and said there isn't anything we can do until they (fire officers) get this under control.

"We're losing out on money but safety and health comes first."

The smoke from the fire was so thick that the Port of Spain skyline was briefly obscured before winds cleared it.

In downtown Port of Spain several passers-by also noticed the smoke but said it was lifted shortly after. Smoke levels were lower on Saturday.