Port-of-Smog

As it was touched on in the preceding post, Port-of-Spain, being the capital city is bombarded by heavy commuters daily as they enter to attend school or jobs or just shop. This means that a high number of vehicles enter the city on a daily basis, which can only mean one thing, a high amount of emissions. On entering the city while the sun is still low in the sky a dark haze can be seen elevated above the Beetham and the city. That haze is just a small indication of how bad the air quality is in the city and something should be done about it. This haze is due to the high traffic congestion coupled with the location of a landfill just on the outskirt of the city. 

The photo on the left shows early morning traffic coming into the city from the Eastern, Central and Southern parts of the island. This line of vehicles stretches miles as everyone is trying to get to their daily obligations. Due to narrow streets and insufficient parking, the city is not fit to accommodate all of these vehicles. Most of the population chooses to travel alone in their personal vehicles as opposed to car pooling mainly because of personal space reasons or having multiple things to do during the day which require readily available transport.

Thus leaving many single occupant vehicles in the city rather than multiple occupant vehicles which would decrease the amount of vehicles having to enter the city on a daily basis. This can only lead to more traffic within the city, CBD most prominently and surrounding areas such as Woodbrook, Newtown, Tranquility suffer as well since these areas were not originally designed for commercial activity and high traffic. There aren't a lot of parking lots available in the city so commuters choose to park on the side of the streets further reducing their already small capacity resulting in traffic congestion throughout the entire city especially at rush hours. Pedestrians that are making their way through the city are faced with first-hand encounters with the large amount of car emissions. How are all the school children that are making their way to and from school supposed to overcome/avoid these emissions? What about the babies with their mothers or the elderly or the general public? It may not show up right away but the inhalant of these concentrated vehicle emissions can cause serious respiratory problems if not controlled over time. The picture above perfectly displays what was just explained, the parking, traffic congestion and pedestrians close proximity to the cars and their emissions. Most of the CBD streets also are lined with high rise buildings that create a pocket and make it difficult for these gasses to escape quickly.

Another major problem with the air quality is the location of the landfill just on the outskirt of the city, and upwind too. How could this have ever been a feasible thing to do? It is also located directly across the highway from a residential area, The Beetham Gardens, yes the country places a stigma on the residents of this area but not all of them are bad. Maybe they cause some uproar because their community always reeks with the stench of the landfill or the smog hovering overhead. How is someone supposed to enjoy urban life/lifestyle when they live next to a dump, their health is at risk, they can't focus, etc. A little over a year ago many fires were set in the landfill causing the entire city to shut down because the smoke and smog was so bad. Many persons were hospitalised due to respiratory damage symptoms, schools were closed, businesses and offices shut their doors also, and the city was basically evacuated. These fires lasted for days causing massive losses to businesses and school children as well as they were deprived of their full education schedule, it also threw some of them off track. The photo to the right and the one below on the left show how the visibility was very minimal on attempting to enter the city, this is a very hazardous situation as motorists are at a higher risk of hitting something or someone they cannot see through the smoke. The other photo shows how the entire city was engulfed in smoke causing major respiratory damage and illness, also causing the closure of all schools and businesses in the area.

References

Clyne, Kalifa. "No rise in harmful pollutants from Beetham fires-EMA." Guardian, May 20, 2014. Accessed April 7, 2015. http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-05-20/no-rise-harmful-pollutants-beetham-fires%E2%80%94ema.

Dopson, W. ""We like the traffic so'." Newsday, September 5, 2002. Accessed April 7, 2015. http://www.newsday.co.tt/letters/0,165827.html.

"EMA Conducts Air Quality Monitoring in Response to Beetham Landfill Fires | Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management - ODPM." Welcome to Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management - ODPM | Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management - ODPM. Last modified January 29, 2914. http://www.odpm.gov.tt/node/772.

Environmental Management Authority. "Update on Air Quality Monitoring in Port of Spain." Accessed April 7, 2015. www.ema.co.tt/new/index.php/news-and-events/news/recent/399-update-on-air-quality-testing-and-monitoring-in-pos.

Espinet, Rachel, and Marlene Augustine. "PORT-OF-SMOG." Newsday, January 30, 2014. Accessed April 7, 2015. http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,189928.html.

"Gridlock in Trinidad -- NationNews Barbados -- Local, Regional and International News Nationnews.com." Www.nationnews.com. Accessed April 7, 2015. http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/65275/gridlock-trinidad.

"Port of Spain Case Study." Scribd - Read Unlimited Books. Accessed April 7, 2015. http://www.scribd.com/doc/19552480/Port-of-Spain-Case-Study#scribd.

The Trinidad and Tobago Solid Waste Management Company (SWMCOL). Accessed April 7, 2015. http://www.swmcol.co.tt/index.php?view=article&catid=39:news&id=190:news-bulletin&format=pdf.