The Tobago House of Assembly’s Division of Food Security, Natural Resources, the Environment and Sustainable Development is monitoring the influx of sargassum seaweed across the island’s beaches.
Work began on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday as clean-up gangs were deployed, and plans are underway for further clean-up if necessary.
THA Secretary of Food Security, Natural Resources, the Environment and Sustainable Development, Nathisha Charles-Pantin, explained the increase in sargassum deposits across the island is not unique to Tobago.
“You have warmer waters and also, you know, the nutrients running off from the land and, of course, those changes in the ocean circulation patterns, so that is why you have that type of condition or favourable condition for the massive sargassum blooms that we are experiencing not only in Tobago, but on other Caribbean islands.”
However, the Tobago House of Assembly continues beach monitoring activities, employing specific efforts at the western and eastern ends of Tobago.
“Hope in Lambeau you will see an extremely thick mass of sargassum there, so that will trigger a more intensive, like heavy equipment, that type of response, but when you come across to the Caribbean seaside, you’re not seeing that thickness, so you don’t need something as heavy equipment. You wouldn’t need to use that, so it’s basically having URP teams and CEPEP teams get involved.”
With limited financing posing challenges to the effort, Secretary Pantin assured that the situation is under control.
“You know we have to identify funding if we have to engage heavy equipment and contractors to assist with the cleanup. The last time we did the cleaning, it cost us just near $1 million. It was nine hundred and something thousand, and that was to clean beaches in Speyside, Lambeau, Magdalena, and different beaches on the Atlantic side. Once, as an Executive Council, we decide that we have to intervene, then we have to find the funds from somewhere.”
Beaches on the Caribbean Sea side have been cleaned extensively, but Secretary Pantin is reminding persons of the role they play in preventing these occurrences.
“We continue to encourage persons to look at their habits in terms of pollution not only us as individuals, as businesses, as hotels, anything that can lead to pollution. We have to be mindful of how we manage our waste.”
Secretary Pantin also urged beachgoers to be vigilant: “When you see you have the bloom of the sargassum near the shore. You don’t know exactly what is under there. You don’t know if you have anything to cut you or if you might have jellyfish caught up in there. So you always have to pay attention.”