Whittaker reports… : Haags Bosch received 110,000 tonnes waste in 2013
A section of the roadway partly covered with the over-spilled garbage
A section of the roadway partly covered with the over-spilled garbage

A TOTAL 110,000 tonnes of waste was received at the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill Site, aback Eccles, East Bank Demerara, for the year 2013, Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr. Norman Whittaker reported yesterday.

The Haags Bosch Landfill site aback Eccles, East Bank Demerara is currently accepting almost double the waste it is designed to accommodate
The Haags Bosch Landfill site aback Eccles, East Bank Demerara is currently accepting almost double the waste it is designed to accommodate

Speaking at a press conference in the Fort Street, Kingston, Georgetown Ministry, he told reporters that some 50,000 tonnes, not originally catered for, was included.

But during the year, several improvements to the site were put in place and 825 garbage bins were procured, Whittaker pointed out in the presence of the other Minister, Mr. Ganga Persaud and Permanent Secretary, Mr. Collin Croal.
Meanwhile, Head of the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Team, Mr. Gordon Gilkes told the Guyana Chronicle, earlier this month, that though designed to receive 6,000 tonnes of solid waste per month, the same landfill site is currently processing more than 10,000 tonnes per month and its construction is still a work in progress.
He said, despite the pressure of operating and constructing at the same time, the work was progressing satisfactorily.
Gilkes disclosed that the location is intended to occupy 64 of the 100 acres behind Eccles and the facility is being built in four stages, each stage or cell, is to occupy 16 acres.
The landfill is located between Plantation Peter’s Hall on the southern side and Agricola on the northern side, behind Eccles.

PREMATURE START
“We are, at the moment, at about 60 percent of cell number one. It should be remembered that the operations of the landfill were started prematurely, because of the situation at Le Repentir. The thing is that the operation and construction is being done at the same time,” Gilkes explained.
The landfill commenced operating on February 1, 2011 and has been receiving waste for about 33 months. Up to earlier this month, the landfill had received in excess of 340,000 tonnes.
The site is supposed to last for 26 years but, at the current rate of usage, it may last far less.
“There are other technologies which can reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills. Utilizing those, it is hoped, should extend the life of the site as close as possible to 26 years,” he said.
Ongoing work includes the construction of an Administration Building housing offices, canteen and workshop; a scale and scale-house, to weigh the incoming waste and categorise it; construction of internal access roads, and a storm-water management system.
A landfill gas management system is on the cards for some time in the future, because the facility is, at the moment, still too young to start producing gas.
There are also plans to install a composting facility to help reduce the amount of bio-waste which goes into the landfill.
The site is financed, to the tune of US$7.7M, through a loan agreement entered into between the Government of Guyana (GOG) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which took effect from February 22, 2007.
Written By Telesha Ramnarine

 

 

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