Salina Estate developers commit US$1 million to help transform Corito landfill

The developers behind the Salina Estate luxury villa resort on Rendezvous Bay have committed US$1 million towards the modernisation of the Corito landfill.

The contribution was agreed as part of a memorandum of understanding signed recently between Green Development and the government.

Planning minister Kyle Hodge announced the commitment during a press conference on 17 August, saying it will include equipment, operator training and technical guidance.

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He said the total is “significant” because the government has made the decision that Corito “cannot continue operating simply as a landfill we have known for decades”.

The MoU for the $14.6m oceanfront resort was signed at the government administration building on 31 July. Officials broke ground at the site later the same day.

Salina Estate will include four luxury seven-bedroom villas on a 4.08-acre plot located between the Aurora Anguilla Resort and Golf Club to the west and Bankie Banx’s Dune Preserve to the east.

Due to begin later this year, the project will incorporate solar technology, advanced water management systems and environmentally sustainable building practices.

The government has been working on a plan to transform Corito from a traditional landfill into a sustainable waste facility, Hodge told the press conference.

The project will be guided by a 20-page proposal developed by the Environment Unit within the Department of Natural Resources, with input from the Department of Health Protection.

The work predates the recent fire, Hodge said, and aims to move away from “simply dumping and burying waste” towards reducing, separating, recovering, recycling and safely disposing of materials.

Plans include reorganising the site, introducing tighter controls over incoming and outgoing waste, and installing a weighbridge and registration system to monitor activity.

An infrastructure masterplan is also being developed to accommodate wastewater treatment, waste oil collection, waste segregation and processing, shredding and crushing equipment, roads and facilities.

“Once the master layout is established, the detailed engineering, environmental work, planning application, and building approvals can proceed,” he said.

The transformation will take place in stages, Hodge said, with the long-term goal of reducing reliance on landfill and moving Anguilla towards a waste-to-energy economy.

“I don’t want anyone to believe that because they may not see everything happening immediately from the road that nothing is happening,” Hodge said.

He added that the recent tyre fire had provided lessons but had not changed the government’s direction, adding that it had accepted responsibility for tackling the decades-old problem.

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