City garbage disposal…
GEORGETOWN Mayor Hamilton Green said yesterday that the new dumpsite at Haags Bosch, East Bank Demerara, is expected to be opened around July, after a delay of  close to one year.
“Work is well advanced at Haags Bosch,” he assured at a City Hall media briefing and announced that the Le Repentir landfill will be closed soon. Mr. Green said, though, that closing the Le Repentir site is, in totality, contingent on works being done at the new location aback of Eccles, which is a collaborative effort by BK International and Puran Brothers Disposal, with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan of US$9.7M.
He said, to date, the contactors have done work on the access road to Haags Bosch and the land has been cleared for construction of the facilities to aid the proper disposal of waste.
According to him, the search for that new place became necessary, considering the increase in the quantity of garbage and the nature of it, which posed a challenge to the municipality.
Green said several other sites were prospected before the final decision was taken and the move will ease the discomfort persons are experiencing through regular fires at the dumpsite that causes nearby residents some grief.
Alluding to the related hazards, too, he said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not raised any concerns with the City Council  but several medical personnel have been involved in addressing complaints by anyone affected.
Green said the situation at the Le Repentir dumpsite is complex, also due to the fact that approximately 50 per cent of the refuse is organic and produces methane gas.
In acknowledgement of the severity of the problem, he lauded the support of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS).
Director of the Solid Waste Management Department, Mr. Hubert Urling added that capacity to deal with the dangers has been improved upon within the municipality.
He agreed that there have been reduced incidents of fire and said it can be  partially attributed to the fact that cells at the Le Repentir dumpsite are being closed in preparation for the move to Haags Bosch.
Urling said a six acres section was closed in the latter part of 2009 and another six are being looked at, leaving less opportunity for outbreaks of fire.
“The cost of closing six acres is $40M,” Urling disclosed, pointing out that there is a cost to dispose of garbage.
“It does not just disappear,” he declared.
Urling said Guyanese need to be more active in reducing the production of waste.
“They must reduce the amount of waste and do things like recycling,” he advised.