“UNACCEPTABLE” was the term used to describe the sorry state of the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill (HBSL) by Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, in an interview with this newspaper recently, during which he disclosed that the continued support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is still uncertain.Located just behind the Eccles Industrial Site, East Bank Demerara (EBD), the sanitary landfill was a project embarked upon by the then Government of Guyana (GoG) in an effort to relocate the historical Mandela dumpsite which had posed numerous environmental and social problems for neighbouring communities.

According to the Government at that time, the project entailed provision for:
* Institutional strengthening and capacity-building
* Public awareness and community participation
* Construction and operation of Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill
* Waste collection and disposal from NDCs
* Treatment and disposal of healthcare and hazardous waste
Against this backdrop, the $5B project was proposed with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) offering to provide US$20M (Gy$4B) in aid. The additional $1B was to be financed by central Government.
Signed in 2007, the loan agreement between the GoG and the IDB did not bear fruit until the latter part of 2011 when the project commenced.
To this end, construction giant BK International supported by Puran Brothers Disposal Services was awarded a US$9.7M contract where the two entities were tasked with constructing the landfill and operating the site over a five to nine-year period.
But it was reported in 2013 that the sanitary landfill which was initially designed to facilitate 6,000 tonnes of solid waste per month was processing in excess of 10,000 tonnes per month while its construction was still a work in progress.
Intended to last for 26 years, the rate of usage at the facility had projected a significantly reduced lifespan.
Given this development, the Communities Minister explained that the facility is currently in an “unacceptable state” while solutions are being sought to combat these problems.
He further added that an ongoing assessment of the conditions at the landfill is being pursued by the ministry in an effort to bring things to normalcy.
Additionally, he explained that it is uncertain whether the IDB will continue to lend support in seeing the successful completion of the project. Making an assumption, based on the posture of the financial institution currently, the Minister said, would be “premature.”
Recently, reports surfaced indicating that the IDB was signalling their intention to withdraw from the project after it was discovered that the project had contained a number of discrepancies, which needed urgent clarifications.
When questioned by the media, the Minister revealed that there have been “intended indications” to withdraw from the project on the part of the IDB, but a definitive position would not be verified.
Following a meeting held recently by the Minister and officials from the ministry and the IDB last week, it was still unclear as to whether the bank was willing to continue its efforts to see the successful completion of the project.
As a result, another meeting is scheduled where further deliberations between the two bodies will determine the way forward for the project.
The landfill is expected to facilitate garbage disposal from Georgetown and some 15 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs).

By Ravin Singh