– Minister Lall
MINISTER of Local Government and Regional Development Mr. Kellawan Lall said, last Thursday, that the first cell of the new Haags Bosch waste management facility will be opened for use before the end of January.
He was at the time answering a question from PNCR-1G Member of Parliament Ms. Volda Lawrence. She asked the Minister when it was that the Mandela dumpsite would have been closed and how soon would the new site at Haags Bosch be opened.
The parliamentarian further asked the Minister whether his ministry has consulted with the Ministry of Health as to the health implications for residents living in the immediate environs of the Mandela site.
In response to the questions, Minister Lall said he has been urging the Georgetown Mayor and City Council to recognise the importance of the location and to manage the waste being discarded there. But he said the M&CC has not taken heed to the urgings, “resulting in a total mismanagement.”
Said Lall:  “We could have [stacked more waste] higher. The site is under-utilised.” He said, too, that the contractor is not moving the full complement of garbage from the approach into the Cemetery Road. He said  the municipality is allowing waste pickers to sort their waste “right on the road.”
“We have not been giving the contractor the proper guidelines,” he said, noting that central government has spent an additional $40 million in the clean-up efforts.
The Minister said the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) project for a new waste management facility has a component within it to address the closure of the Mandela dump. He said the new dumpsite will feature leachate and filtration systems. Lall said it will be a modern and well-managed dumpsite.
Leader of the Opposition Robert Corbin asked whether the Government is not to be blamed for what he said was its promise to deliver the Haags Bosch facility since four years ago. In his answer to Corbin, Lall said this would not have been possible since Government had been waiting on the financing for the facility from the IDB.
Staving off a scathing attack from the Opposition, Lall said the government has no involvement in the sourcing of contracts for the municipality and has even accused the City of single sourcing in contravention of the procurement requirements.