– Deputy Mayor Williams
THE new sanitary landfill, at Haags Bosch, East Bank Demerara, slated to replace the Mandela dumpsite in Le Repentir, Georgetown, is expected to be operational by August 1. Deputy Mayor, Mr. Robert Williams, made the disclosure at the statutory meeting of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) last Monday.
Speaking in the Council Chamber, at City Hall, he said the municipality needs to aggressively, pursue closure at Le Repentir, by July 31, so as to ensure the Haags Bosch official opening on time.
Mayor Hamilton Green observed that residents of Lodge have long tolerated the overgrowth of vegetation in the cemetery to help control the awful smell that emanates from the site at times.
But, once the site is closed, the bushes will no longer be a problem, he said.
Mr. Green urged Acting Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Munroe to confirm, with the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, that Haags Bosch will be ready by August.
The project is being funded by an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) US$18M loan and, when completed, would also serve 15 surrounding Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs), for the possible disposal, too, of health care discards and other hazardous materials.
The Mandela landfill was established in 1994 on a 10 acres plot to accommodate refuse primarily from Georgetown, East Coast and East Bank Demerara, as well as some areas on West Bank and West Coast Demerara.
It was supposed to have been closed since 2006 and was declared to have outlived its usefulness by August 20, 2008. (Telesha Persaud)