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THE Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill programme, which was started several years ago, has had great success in improving the state of garbage disposal in Guyana. It is slated to continue receiving budgetary support this year to the tune of $732M. With the coming into operation of the landfill, aback of Eccles, Le Repentir Landfill Site was closed and an access road from Cemetery Road to Mandela Avenue constructed. Under the IDB’s Resettlement Policy, the government was obligated to compensate or relocate the waste pickers that earned their livelihoods from picking at Le Repentir landfill under similar or improved conditions.
The Project Execution Unit had contracted a consultant to develop a formalisation plan for the waste-pickers to aid in their resettlement. Under the plan, the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme (GSWMP) constructed a picker shed with wash/change area and canteen, and personal protective equipment for each picker, personal lockers, and table/bench combos and bicycles for personal transportation were procured. The pickers also benefit from regular medical visits from the Agricola Health Centre.
“None of the above amenities were available to the pickers when they were at Le Repentir landfill; hence the government has fulfilled its obligation,” Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Ganga Persaud said during his budget debate presentation.
Minister Persaud indicated that the programme also includes a vigorous public awareness campaign to sensitise the public to the ramifications of littering, both the environmental impact and legal consequences under the proposed Solid Waste Act.
The programme will be procuring 841collection bins (in sizes 2401 to 1100) to be placed at public places with the 15 participating NDCs in Region 4, and will be serviced by the four compactor collection trucks. The GSWMP will also be purchasing several containers to be used in the Georgetown commercial district. These will be serviced by a specialised truck used for these types of containers.
The bins are intended to, among other things, be part of an aggressive solid waste public awareness programme, establish a clear mechanism for the treatment and disposal of health care and hazardous waste, and generally to deal with the collection and disposal in Region 4.
“The Government of Guyana is currently finalising a Regional Solid Waste Management Programme, which was under consideration by the Cabinet from 2011, and which will be rolled out in all the regions, excluding Region 4, during this year,” the minister noted.
This system is a result of lengthy, transparent and dedicated engagements with the private sector, regional and community-based organisations, citizens and waste management entrepreneurs over a 19-month period. “This will join the list of the other private/ public partnership initiatives taken by the PPP/C government in recent times…the intention is to ensure that dump sites across our country no longer exist, and that the management of solid waste will be done through the establishment of landfill sites across the regions,” Minister Persaud explained.
The government is at the final stage of discussions with several companies and organisations which have expressed interest in establishing waste-recycling plants in Guyana. To this end, Cabinet has established a committee which includes the Ministries of Public Works, Finance, Natural Resources, Trade and Tourism, and Local Government and Regional Development, to deal with this issue. Many of the proposals deal with using waste to produce materials which can be used to satisfy market needs in Guyana.
The Project Execution Unit had contracted a consultant to develop a formalisation plan for the waste-pickers to aid in their resettlement. Under the plan, the Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme (GSWMP) constructed a picker shed with wash/change area and canteen, and personal protective equipment for each picker, personal lockers, and table/bench combos and bicycles for personal transportation were procured. The pickers also benefit from regular medical visits from the Agricola Health Centre.
“None of the above amenities were available to the pickers when they were at Le Repentir landfill; hence the government has fulfilled its obligation,” Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Ganga Persaud said during his budget debate presentation.
Minister Persaud indicated that the programme also includes a vigorous public awareness campaign to sensitise the public to the ramifications of littering, both the environmental impact and legal consequences under the proposed Solid Waste Act.
The programme will be procuring 841collection bins (in sizes 2401 to 1100) to be placed at public places with the 15 participating NDCs in Region 4, and will be serviced by the four compactor collection trucks. The GSWMP will also be purchasing several containers to be used in the Georgetown commercial district. These will be serviced by a specialised truck used for these types of containers.
The bins are intended to, among other things, be part of an aggressive solid waste public awareness programme, establish a clear mechanism for the treatment and disposal of health care and hazardous waste, and generally to deal with the collection and disposal in Region 4.
“The Government of Guyana is currently finalising a Regional Solid Waste Management Programme, which was under consideration by the Cabinet from 2011, and which will be rolled out in all the regions, excluding Region 4, during this year,” the minister noted.
This system is a result of lengthy, transparent and dedicated engagements with the private sector, regional and community-based organisations, citizens and waste management entrepreneurs over a 19-month period. “This will join the list of the other private/ public partnership initiatives taken by the PPP/C government in recent times…the intention is to ensure that dump sites across our country no longer exist, and that the management of solid waste will be done through the establishment of landfill sites across the regions,” Minister Persaud explained.
The government is at the final stage of discussions with several companies and organisations which have expressed interest in establishing waste-recycling plants in Guyana. To this end, Cabinet has established a committee which includes the Ministries of Public Works, Finance, Natural Resources, Trade and Tourism, and Local Government and Regional Development, to deal with this issue. Many of the proposals deal with using waste to produce materials which can be used to satisfy market needs in Guyana.
