SEVERAL workers there are of the view that the Mandela landfill, in Le Repentir Cemetery, will reach the roadside by Christmas but officials were unable to provide
any substantial information on the current state of the site. Smoke and stench emanating from the place affect people in the environs and residents in the vicinity, who continue to complain about the disgusting odour, want the
authorities to take action on the heath issues surrounding the over-used facility.
Four workers, who spoke to the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, on condition of anonymity, said they based the forecast overrun onto the public thoroughfare on the  increased
amount of refuse being dumped there daily.
According to them, a number of tombs in the burial ground are now covered by rubbish and relatives of the deceased can no longer visit where they are buried.
They said trucks which deliver garbage twice a day are now taking double what they previously transported and the system can no longer be monitored, as the site now takes
in at least 100 tonnes daily.
Director of Solid Waste Management with the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Mr. Hubert Urlin told this newspaper, yesterday, that a crew was working to completely stop the
site from smoking.
He could offer no further comment on the situation but Deputy Mayor Robert Williams maintained that the new landfill, at Haags Bosch, East Bank Demerara, will become
operational by February 1.
Director of the Environmental Health Unit of the Health Ministry, Dr. Ashok Sookdeo, said it has not yet become involved with the issues surrounding the expired facility.
However, his department will not fail to intervene if there is an outbreak of disease or some other disaster.
M&CC Chief Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Kenneth Stephen, said he has not been there in recent times and would not be able to talk about related matters.
The Haags Bosch 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 after having been declared to have outlived its usefulness.