GEORGETOWN IS SITTING ON SEWAGE

Jun 02, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Where some people see a crisis, others see opportunities. I would therefore like to encourage the government of Guyana, to see an opportunity in the problems being encountered, with the sewage system in the city, rather than trying simply to deny what the Alliance For Change (AFC) is claiming to be a ticking bomb.

The sewage system in the capital city is old and worn. But it is not simply true to say that no work has been done on it. Large sections of sewage lines were been replaced, prior to major road works.

The problem with the sewage system, is not that the entire system needs to be revamped. It does not.

The problem is, that there is a huge build-up of excrement and waste within the system, because of consistent problems with pumps, and until this situation is remedied, there is not going to be an ease to the many overflowing chambers which are to be found in those areas in the city, serviced by sewage lines. One of the excuses that the government has been making, is that the city has expanded and now caters for more residents.

This is not necessarily true, because while the city of Georgetown now expands South to Agricola, and to Cummings Lodge in the east, these former contiguous areas of the city, are not serviced by sewage lines, but instead, rely on the use of septic tanks.

The sewage system therefore, has not expanded. It may not be totally accurate to conclude therefore, that the increased population of the city has placed onerous demands on an old system.

What may be true to say, is that there are major problems with what is being disposed within the sewage system. All manner of materials are now to be found dumped within the sewage system, and this is causing pressure on the limited pumps.

This situation, ought not to have reached this stage, had all the pumps been working simultaneously. Had the system been functioning as it was under colonial Guyana, there would not have been so many problems with the system, causing at times, the sewage to boil out of the manholes leading to the chambers under the roadways where the lines run.

As such, the first step in improving the system, has to be a programme to have all the pumps working. The second step, has to be a programme to replace the covers of sewage manholes around the city, since it would seem that instead of using the conventional way of removing these covers to determine blockage and levels within the system, what we have had in many instances, is the chipping away of pieces of the covers of chambers, with the result that large slots are left, into which all manner of materials can seep into the system.

The replacement of these chamber covers would significantly reduce foreign material from entering the system. The third step, has to be the identification of vulnerable lines, and a programme to have these replaced. We should, however, bear in mind, that the problem with overflowing sewage is mainly as a result of backups due to pump failures, rather than due to porous lines.

Finally, we need to make money out of the filth that comes out of our sewage lines. This is being done all around the world, and there is no reason why it cannot be done in Guyana.

In Georgetown, the main sewage system dumps into the Demerara River. This poses an environmental threat, and should be discontinued within the next five years.

Within this time, the government should establish on the site formerly identified for a hotel in Kingston, a modern sewage treatment plant, that would convert the treated sewage into fertilizers, which can be used to improve crop yields throughout Guyana.

It can also generate some electricity which may be sufficient to power road lights in the city.

Instead of therefore dumping, as is currently the case, untreated sewage into the Demerara River, instead of allowing the land cleared for the hotel project to return to jungle, the government should invite expressions of interest to investors to establish a modern sewage treatment plant, which goes beyond the mere settling of the sewage to a process that involves converting this waste material into fertilizers and energy.

Already, the World Bank under its climate change fund, is supporting a similar, but of course far more massive project, in China, by seeking to convert landfill waste into energy and other products.

The World Bank funding is available for such projects undertaken by both the public and private sectors. It is something worth considering.

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GEORGETOWN IS SITTING ON SEWAGE

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