St. James, a suburb of Port-of-Spain, is the targeted area for this project proposal. The project will focus specifically on a residential subset of St. James which has been prone to severe flooding over the years, exacerbated from improper drainage and build-up of garbage disposed into the waterways by the community. These waterways lead directly into the Gulf of Paria and are currently transferring the land-based pollution to the larger ocean.

The project aims to reduce the incidence of pollution in the rivers and waterways that lead into the Gulf of Paria as a direct result of inadequate refuse disposal/ containment in St. James, Trinidad. The project proposes an integrated community-managed plan which will address the issue of waste disposal in a multifaceted manner. Members of the St. James community will be trained in bio-engineering techniques inclusive of environmental techniques, drainage techniques, effective garbage collection, and landscaping techniques which will decrease the incidence of indiscriminate waste disposal and also decrease the cha nces and effects of flooding while building capacity within the community itself. The project encompasses a community-wide sensitization and awareness raising campaign to educate people on the effects of waste in the rivers and larger ecosystem.

The Local Government Representative for St James East, Mr. Rishi Lakhan, has in the past tried to institute measures to curb the dumping and littering of the community via policies and procedures that addressed the refuse pileup on the Western Main Road as a direct result of the economic activities present there. This has given greater responsibility for proper refuse disposal to the business owners. Littering still remains a challenge caused by the increase in the migration of homeless persons into the area and the subsequent improper disposal of household waste which attracts them and results in scattered debris all over the pavements, a lack of suitable waste containment systems, untimely refuse placed out for collection, insufficient residential bins and illegal dumping.

The need to address the issue of improper waste management at all levels in the community is crucial. Bio-engineering is proposed to address the build-up and resulting flooding of the waterways. The effects of flooding are worsened by the pollution of general garbage as well as significant household waste such as appliances and furniture that are no longer in use and which residents dispose of by throwing into the river or along the riverbed.