Government has New Proposals for Sargassum

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Saint Lucian government says it’s planning to implement new strategies for handling sargassum seaweed. On Monday Prime Minister Allen Chastanet said the Minister of Agriculture, Ezechiel Joseph, had just arrived back in Saint Lucia from a trip to Grenada that focused on mitigating the damage of sargassum seaweed. Chastanet declared, “This is not just a Saint Lucian phenomenon, it’s a regional phenomenon.”

Chastanet says a solution that the government is exploring considers collecting the influx of sargassum that is piling up on the eastern shores of Saint Lucia, and then burying it.

According to the prime minister, not only does the sargassum decompose after 60 days but, once the seaweed is buried, the stench will be concealed. In addition, the government has endorsed a private contractor who will turn the seaweed into fertilizer.

Over the next few months the government will investigate how much sargassum can be turned into fertilizer. If the consultation goes well, the prime minister says the government may look into building more processing plants to produce such a product. Between cultivating sargassum at sea and preventing the seaweed from touching the shore, there are many other possible avenues for solutions to control the sargassum but, according to the prime minister, they don’t work. Right now, the government needs to determine whether or not its plans will be economically feasible.

“What we do know is, sargassum is not going away,” said Chastanet. “All indications are that it’s going to continue to grow.”