By Tamica Garnett
WITH only one engineered landfill and a few controlled dumpsites across the country being insufficient to handle Guyana’s growing solid waste, the government will be moving to create temporary regional dumpsites in Regions Two, Three and Five in 2021.

The creation of the dumpsites is covered under a $1.1 billion that was allocated for solid-waste management in the 2021 national budget, which was presented to the National Assembly on Friday last.
The allocation also includes funds for completion of the construction of Cell II at the Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill Site and the upgrading of disposal sites at Rose Hall, Port Kaituma, Belle Vue, Lethem, Lima, Charity, Lusignan and D’Edward village.

“The government is committed to promoting integrated sanitation management through enhanced awareness on sanitation practices and solid-waste management across the regions to safeguard human health and the environment,” Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, remarked on Friday during his budget presentation.

Regional Chairpersons for Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), both praised the move to see official dumpsites created in their respective regions, noting it has been difficult finding alternatives, even as solid-waste production continues to grow exponentially.
“It is very important for us,” Region Three Regional Chairman, Ishan Ayube remarked in an invited comment to this newspaper.

Currently, garbage and other solid waste in that region is collected by private garbage collectors and transported to the Haags Bosch landfill on the East Bank of Demerara, resulting in residents incurring higher garbage collection rates. In some areas, residents pay as much as $600 per week for collection.
“If we are able to dispose [of] it in Region Three, then more persons would be able to have access to the dumpsite and it would be at a cheaper cost. Also with a dumpsite, we would have a cleaner environment,” Ayube further related.

He highlighted that in the absence of an official dumpsite and collection system, many residents are still resorting to dumping garbage on the roadways and in the waterways, which results in an additional cost to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDC).
Ayube noted that the region has not yet decided on a location for the dumpsite, however, prospecting assessment has begun.

“We were looking at one and two sites, we have two areas we would’ve [sic] identified but we don’t have anything concrete as yet,” he said.

Across the Essequibo River, Region Two does not have a means of accessing the Haags Bosch Landfill, so a temporary non-official dumpsite is being used, but Regional Chairperson Vilma Da Silva said the region is facing a serious issue with its garbage disposal.

“Waste disposal is a big, big problem in this region. It is very important [that we get a dumpsite], and I think they’re negotiating the site, so it’s in the making,” Da Silva explained.

She added: “We have an area in Lima Sand Pit, that’s currently where the garbage collectors use, and some persons litter on the Mainstay roadway, but we had to stop that because that’s not appropriate for the tourism in the region. So that’s why we’re pushing for this solid-waste system to have that in control.”
As the country continues to grow, having an adequate system to handle solid waste continues to be a front-burner issue. Globally, the World Bank estimates that annual waste generation is expected to increase by 70 per cent, to 3.40 billion tonnes in 2050.

In Guyana, Haags Bosch is the country’s landfill, and was initially designed to take on an inflow of 250 tonnes a day; however, as of 2019, it was accepting an average of 400 tonnes per day. First designed in 2004, Haags Bosch was estimated to have a life span of 25 – 28 years. It comprises four cells, each occupying 16 acres. In 2019, Cell I reached its full capacity and works began on Cell II.

To assess the situation for new landfill and dumpsite areas across the country, in 2019 the government’s Sanitation Unit collaborated with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to embark on a number of assessments of existing dumpsites and proposed landfill sites in each administrative region across Guyana. The project was working towards a countrywide sustainable waste-management system.

Apart from Haags Bosch, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has controlled dumpsites at Lusignan in Region Four; Byderabo in Bartica; Rose Hall; Esplanade in New Amsterdam, and Bon Success in Lethem.