Sean’s Transportation is positioning itself to transport food scraps and other waste from vessels supporting offshore oil & gas operations.
The company, headed by Sean Yassin, aims to function as the transportation provider to the companies contracted to dispose garbage accumulated from the vessels.
While employed with SEACOR Marine as an Operations Assistant, Yassin told Stabroek News that he observed the company experiencing difficulties in transporting waste on weekends and holidays.
He explained that on many occasions the company had to find alternative transportation to dispose of their waste when garbage disposal companies are unavailable. In view of this, Yassin, who already operates a passenger transportation service, said he decided to add another dimension to his business to capitalise on the untapped market.
“I am very happy that as a small man I can get a piece of the pie everybody has been talking about. We all know that the small man isn’t finding opportunities so when I observed this, I decided to make a move,” he explained.
Yassin informed that while his company is not contracted, it is registered as a vendor with approximately six vessels to dispose of the waste.
He emphasised that they are only to transport the cans, food scraps, paper, and other non-industrial waste from the wharf of the contracted vessel to the Haags Bosch landfill site on the East Bank.
“We are not transporting any hazardous waste, it’s strictly household waste you can say. On these vessels they are keen on what goes where and the waste is treated. It is then placed in industrial garbage bags covered with a foam and then transported to land. On land here we load it onto a ‘canter’ [light truck], cover it with a tarp and transport it to the landfill site at Eccles,” the small-business proprietor explained.
He said that throughout the transportation of the waste, the bags of garbage will be properly secured. The waste will be transported in an open back truck, equipped with cargo nets and straps to prevent movement of waste during transport. The food waste will be contained and packaged within 4m x 4m spill-proof and waterproof garbage bags that will be tightly sealed.
The new company is aiming to provide the service to six of the eight supporting vessels at least 12 times a month. It was noted that in some instances, the vessels dispose of their garbage in Trinidad and Tobago, where they dock.
Yassin told Stabroek News that this opportunity provides employment for at least four persons – a driver, a porter, the truck owner, and himself as the contractor. With the venture being new, he said he has not decided to invest in his own machinery as yet.
The company has since applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval to operate.
The EPA in its Environmental Impact Assessment screening stated that based on existing data, its technical review, observations/field inspections and exercise of its discretion, it has determined that the impacts to the environment will be negligible given that the food waste will be contained.
The appropriate mitigation measures are in place to reduce and avoid negative impacts, the screening report highlighted.
