BEAUTIFUL beaches in Castle Harbour littered with unsightly junk are to be cleaned up this weekend.

The exclusive report last week on the shocking state of the beaches has led the Ministry of Works & Engineering to respond with a crew of 14, who will work tomorrow ? with the help of a barge ? to remove the debris which includes rusting old refrigerators.

The contractor currently responsible for the "dump", Henry Talbot, of Talbot Enterprises, categorically denied that his company had any responsibility for the clean-up of the affected beaches.

He has held the contract only since April, and the trash problem on the airport beaches pre-dated his involvement. However, he said recent high tides and easterly winds had floated some of the debris all over Castle Harbour.

Alexander Ming, acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, agreed that Mr. Talbot, and the previous contractor, Hunt Sanitation Services, had no responsibility for the clean-up.

"The responsibility rests with the Ministry of Works & Engineering. We have undertaken to have that work done, and it is scheduled for this Saturday, June 12. We have some 14 individuals from Works & Engineering who will take part in the clean-up on the beaches, as well as a contractor who will be operating from a barge on the waters of Castle Harbour."

Mr. Ming did not have the name of the contractor to hand, but confirmed that Talbot Enterprises was not involved.

"He does not do that type of work, from the water. We will have to seek permission from the Department of Airport Operations to gain access to the beaches."

The was alerted to the state of the beaches by East End resident Mandy Whayman, who also provided the photographs which so clearly illustrated the distressing quantity of assorted detritus on the golden sands.

"I am delighted to hear that news. I think it was partly a situation of 'out of sight, out of mind'. They can't see it, so they don't think about it. It's only when you are on the water, that you get a real picture of the extent of the mess. I had no doubt that the Ministry would respond quickly!"

The residents around the shores of Castle Harbour will be equally delighted to hear that the problem of "float-offs" from the airport refuse disposal area, more commonly called "the dump", will be a thing of the past.

New contractor Mr. Talbot described recent developments relating to the movement of trash across the azure waters of the harbour, and gave an assurance that a problem which has plagued the residents for many years has been brought firmly under his control.

"That trash has been over there since (Hurricane) Fabian and has nothing to do with us. When you had the very high moon tides the last week or so, some of that stuff floated off those beaches and went all over Castle Harbour, and I think some of it reached Tucker's Town across the way. The wind came out of the east when the tides were high, and that's what happens.

"At that time, nothing floated off the airport dump, because we had nothing that could float off. We take our trash, and we compact it, and keep it to an appropriate level. Nothing has gone past our oil boom.

"When I first visited the site to tender for the contract, that stuff on the beaches was already there. On one of the visits I made, there was talk of removing an old boat up there on the beach, and someone was meant to get back to me, but no one got back to me about sending a boat over there to get it. It had nothing to do with me, and if I was going to send a boat over there, I would have to be paid.

"We have had nothing float off the dump, and we don't expect that to happen, because we have the equipment to deal with it. We have no problem with that. We have three or four boats at the dump, and anything that goes in the water, we pick it right out immediately with the excavator. We maintain the whole thing at a level just above high tide."

Mr. Talbot may be responsible for refuse disposal, but he is no conservationist. In May, reported that he outraged environmentalists by bulldozing 1,000-year-old rock formations at Gilbert's Bay in Somerset.

To further a construction project, Mr. Talbot apparently acted without regard for nature or Planning Department regulations, and, according to Government Conservation Officer Jeremy Madeiros, "destroyed five or six longtail nests", possibly with chicks or eggs inside.