Caricom yesterday reiterated the call for a halt to the shipment of hazardous waste through the Caribbean and expressed “gravest concern” at the likelihood that a new shipment of Vitrified High Level Waste will soon leave the United Kingdom for Japan transiting the Caribbean Sea.
In a news release, Caricom said it will intensify its opposition to the passage of shipments of high-level waste through the Caribbean Sea which “constitutes not only a part of the way of life of the Caribbean people but also a principal source of livelihood and socio-economic activity.”
The United Kingdom’s imminent shipment of radioactive waste follows a number of such shipments to date, each of which has been strenuously objected to by Caricom Heads of Government, Caribbean business communities and civil society, the release stated.
It said further that the region is intensifying “its call upon all those involved to halt these shipments given the risk they pose to the lives and livelihoods of the Caribbean people.”
