THE Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, in the latter part of 2012 entered into contractual agreements with private waste collectors to establish a number of dumpsites in the nine administrative regions, except Region Four.

Minister in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development Norman Whittaker in a recent National Communications Network’s Ministerial Forum, said the ministry will be using the Haags Bosch landfill as a model for the development and operations of the regional landfills.
“Much of what is being done at Haags Bosch, we hope to see replicated,” the Minister said.
The Haags Bosch facility, aback of Eccles, East Bank Demerara, is Guyana’s first sanitary landfill which commenced operations in the latter part of 2011. The site is being developed through the Inter- American Development Bank funding to the tune of US$18M. It caters for the garbage disposal of Georgetown and the 15 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and has been accepting garbage from other locations.
The ministry has been moving to establish these regional sites in an effort to better manage the careless disposal of waste across the regions. The ministry, in addition to entering into contractual agreements for the development of the regional sites, has also provided monetary assistance to the nine regional administrations to address public awareness for the sites.
Solid waste management and its implication on the country have been receiving much focus from the Local Government Ministry, and just recently, towards addressing the increasing garbage piles in Georgetown, it launched a public awareness campaign with the support of GuyEnterprise. As part of the campaign, a visit to Haags Bosch was conducted and a number of bicycles handed over to the waste pickers.
During the visit, the ministry also signalled its openness to exploring the option of expanding the opening and closing hours of the site. It is hoped that this would reduce the late evening dumping across the city.
Meanwhile, again in the line of tackling the issues of solid waste management in the city during the course of the year, the ministry is set to bring before the National Assembly the Solid Waste Management Bill. This bill will address issues relating to the enforcement of laws governing waste disposal, the increase of finds for breaches of these laws, and the setting up of the Solid Waste Management Committee, which will have the responsibility for a number of issues including enforcing the laws for breaking the solid waste disposal laws.