The community of Aruba was informed that starting on the 22nd of August, the dump at Parkietenbos would not receive tires as waste anymore. This week, minister of Integrity, Nature, Transport and Older Persons Affairs, Mr. Ursell Arends gave a press conference in front of Parkietenbos in order to give more information on the subject of responsible waste management.
In front of other stakeholders like Bureau City Inspector, Serlimar, Ecotech and Carentra VBA, minister Arends explained that the plan to begin redirecting waste began this week, by no longer burning tires in open air.
Six months ago the platform Trash2Cash was established to begin responsible waste management based on the principle of a circular economy, in order to stop some waste from reaching Parkietenbos.
Tires at the dump are a danger to the environment as well as the health of the habitants of the neighborhood. In order to come up with a solution, local businesses will process tires and create an additional raw material in the form of oil, which can be sold in the local market. This will result in less funds going abroad, which will recirculate in the local economy.
“The 22nd of August marks the beginning to stop fires at the dump in Parkietenbos”, Arends said.
He added that this will elevate the value of the neighborhood of Parkietenbos and the community around the dump. This will also be an opportunity to inventory all possibilities on Aruba to use various methods to process waste that are not just bringing waste to the dump and burning it.
“My vision is to close Parkietenbos, to redirect different forms of waste to those who have the expertise and infrastructure to process this in a responsible manner. Once the dump is no longer receiving waste, that in turn gives us the opportunity to turn the area into a solar park”, he assured.
Minister Arends said also that sometimes change is met with resistance, but he emphasized that it is necessary that this often times is the result of lack of information or fear of change and insecurity. “What’s more important is that this is a personal interest, as a minister I am bringing policy that includes change, and I choose to use the force of resistance as the force to go forward to do what’s best for our country.”
Arends said that it is no longer an option to let the neighborhood which for decades was harmed continue being harmed. “It is no longer an option to continue destroying nature, and it is no longer an option to continue debilitating our only economic pillar, our tourism. It’s not an option to put our own health and wellbeing as a priority, our only option as a country is to use our force and positive energy for change.”
Representative of Serlimar, Jermaro Emerencia expressed that the waste processing company put a sign at the dump to inform the community regarding tires, and that the way they will receive this is by putting them in a container. Emercencia did not provide more details, but said in the coming days they will make an announcement via social media.
Eduard Jimenez, operations manager of Ecotech Freezone, said that the company is ready to receive the tires as they had announced last month. He said this month they made preparations and organized to receive the tires, and that the support minister Arends’ initiative for a more sustainable Aruba.
