Grievances over the building of a medical waste incinerator plant at Southside in St David’s are to be aired in a second public meeting tonight.

It follows a stormy public meeting at the start of the month on the building of the plant by MediWaste, a private company that has taken over the disposal of the island’s medical waste from the Bermuda Hospitals Board.

BHB formerly operated a disposal facility known as a macerator on the grounds of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Paget.

The pressure group Concerned Citizens of St David’s will hold its second town hall meeting at 6.30pm at Clearwater Middle School.

Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, was said to be attending.

It comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs indicated that approval from the Department of Planning for the facility to be built on industrially zoned land in Southside would not be reversed.

The East End group said it was meeting to “seek clarity from government officials” on several issues.

They claimed that an environmental impact assessment had not been required to approve the facility on land deemed industrial and sufficiently distanced from residential areas.

The group questioned why MediWaste’s sole-sourced contract for ten years with BHB had not been subject to a request for proposal.

They also claimed the move would drive up the island’s medical and insurance costs.

While the plant has not been constructed, the group said medical waste had been stored in shipping containers at Carter’s Bay Road since February, and would continue to build up.

Medical waste covers a wide range of items from contaminated bandages and tissues to “sharps” such as used hypodermic needles.