THE Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has recognised the importance of letting the public know of the plans surrounding the permanent closure of Le Repentir landfill, formerly known as the Mandela dump site. Government’s Chief Consulting Engineer, Walter Willis, made this observation during a press briefing yesterday at the closed cell two at the Mandela Site.
“We have closed this site and stopped receiving garbage since the first of February, and we have started receiving garbage at the new Haags Bosch, East Bank Demerara, site, where we have ten percent of cell one open to receive waste and this will be expanded continually” he said.
He noted too that prior to the closure of Le Repentir landfill, there was partial closure of cell one, located west of the National Gymnasium, and cell two which was done in 2009 under the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme.
Alluding to the preparations for final closure, he said, “This closure entails stabilising the site slope of the pile, compacting the garbage and inserting vents for the removal of the methane and carbon dioxide gases, and then covering it with clay 18 inches thick.”
Continuing, he assured that this method is an effective way of sealing the site  since the same procedure was tried and tested in cell one which was closed in the early 90’s, and to date there have been no complaints.
Willis also noted that the closure of cell three was delayed pending the opening of the new site.
“When we had the influx and bad handling of garbage in December of last year, we found it necessary to stop the partial closure of cell three for which we had entered into a contract with Puran Brothers, to the value of $40M.”
In this regard, Willis explained that it was necessary to make more space to accept the garbage and so cell three was later reopened, along with sections of cell two.
Now that the site is closed, the Ministry of Local Government will now embark on a clean-up exercise of the area, which will entail the clearing of drains of any remaining garbage and the removal of debris from the surrounding tombs.
Willis also informed that discussions with the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) reveal that the tendering process for this aspect of the closure will further delay commencement of the work by another four weeks.
“When this happens, a contractor will take over the site until it is finally closed and the estimated costs of that will be made public in another week,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to assuage the fears of the residents of Eccles and the neighbouring communities, where the Haags Bosch site is located, Willis stressed that the new site will not affect them in any way and there will not be a repeat of what happened at the Mandela site.