…providing machinery to control build-up
GOVERNMENT has once again stepped in to assist the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown in dealing with the issues surrounding the Mandela landfill site in Le Repentir Cemetery.
More heavy duty equipment will be available on site today, courtesy of the government, so that the build up in garbage can be controlled at the site. After the equipment is placed on site, a group of persons from the M&CC will be mandated by the Local Government Ministry to overlook the work there.
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday morning requested the Ministries of Local Government and Regional Development and Public Works to assist the M&CC and this resulted in the respective ministers paying a visit to the over-used landfill site.
“The president asked us to fix the problem and we will,” Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall told reporters at the site yesterday, adding the reason for the visit was to obtain a first hand look at the conditions existing there.
Both ministers heaped a significant amount of criticism upon the City Council and stressed that the problem is not necessarily a lack of resources at the municipality, but a proper management system. Minister Lall added that government’s advice, admonitions and requests have not been followed by the council.
Minister Lall said he cannot keep up with the day to day management of the site and pointed out that the Council has direct responsibility for the operations there through its Solid Waste Management Department.
“We’re here to give a helping hand to the M&CC. This is something we have been looking at constantly,” Minister Lall stated.
He observed that the present garbage contractor does not have the capacity to remove the garbage to the pit, hence the present piling up, and moving towards the roadway in the cemetery.
Meanwhile, Minister Benn advised that no one person should be allowed to create a situation that would develop into a blockage on a public roadway.
He said he is calling on the Guyana Police Force and the other relevant authorities to ensure that this does not happen again. Such behaviour interrupts traffic, the minister pointed out, adding that the professional attention seekers in society should be ignored.
Minister Benn also said that he was not aware if the new landfill site at Haags Bosch, East Bank Demerara, will come on board when it is expected to in mid-January next year.
Deputy Mayor Robert Williams told this newspaper in an interview that the plan was to have the site ready in 2010 through an US$18M loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
It would serve 15 surrounding Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC’s) and for the possible disposal too of health care discards and hazardous materials.
But he assured there will hardly be any disadvantage to moving the dump, except that it will be located some four miles from the capital. However, the advantages include a more organised site that will be operated in the most modern way.
The Mandela landfill was established in 1994, on a 10 acre 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.