Householders could pay more for waste disposal- Mayor Green

Feb 03, 2011 News

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In addition to a likely increase in the cost that will be required for waste disposal, the start-up of the new landfill site at Haags Bosch has not been without some hiccups, City Mayor Hamilton Green revealed yesterday.
He told a press conference at City Hall that one of the outstanding problems that have surfaced is that of the turnaround time of contractors in their attempts to dispose garbage to the new site given the increase distance they are now forced to cover.
He disclosed that some of the contractors were not able to complete cleaning the city on Tuesday, the first day that the new landfill at Eccles, East Bank Demerara, became operational.
According to the Mayor he has since spoken with the officer in charge of the new site, Mr Walter Willis, who has informed that the state of affairs does not seem to present a difficulty to the new site’s operation.
He explained that Willis has advised that the supposed challenge is part of the initiation of such a new project and is not unusual.
Nevertheless, the Mayor expressed delight yesterday that the operation of the old landfill site has been finally halted, a facility, which according to him ought to have been closed years ago having created “so much pain, stress, and distress, not only for the council but for the residents in the contiguous areas.
“There was the threat of a health disaster.
In fact it was to the point where very high officials had wished for a health crisis but that wish didn’t come through because of the work done by our health department and the rest of the municipality.”
With the implementation of the new landfill site, the Mayor revealed that a steering committee was established with the municipal representative being the Deputy Mayor, Mr Robert Williams.
However, Green disclosed yesterday that the committee has not yet been summoned thus leaving the municipality in a quandary as to where the additional financial resources will come from as it relates to the movement at the new facility.
“Whether it be the contractors of the municipality itself the fact that we are now moving from a point in east central Georgetown to a point of a few miles away on the East Bank would suggest that there will be additional cost.
“In fact immediately the two contractors who normally move the garbage from domestic and industrial areas in Georgetown to the site indicated that their fees will increase by a particular sum, which was made known to us, and which was reduced as a result of a meeting held on Saturday afternoon.”
At the moment Mayor Green revealed that the municipality has been able to reach some sort of a compromise with the two contractors, adding that tenders have been advertised for new contracts for the remaining of this year.
The tenders are expected to be closed next week Friday.
The Mayor explained that the current contractors would be retained for at least the next two months.
“But the Council has not had any comfort from Government even though we ask the question about the additional cost to us in circumstances where we are already known to be financially pressured.”
According to Green when the new facility was first anticipated the government through the Local Government Ministry had proposed a number of measures to attenuate the situation and bring relief to the municipality under the assumption that there would have been additional cost.
And there were talk about tipping fee and there was also a proposal, which came from the Ministry that each householder should pay an additional fee, Green said.
“Nothing has been concretised and I am to assume that the government, as an act of good faith, would not only absorb, at least for the interim, the additional cost but ensure that the municipality is not put under further financial stress in circumstances which are well known.”
Meanwhile, the Mayor noted that with the closure of the Le Repentir site the municipality is appealing to persons, who have over the years taken waste to the Le Repentir outside of the municipal contract arrangements and its own initiatives, to desist from such practices.
“While some years ago residents had taken proactive action and blocked trucks that were entering the old site because of the discomfort they were facing,
I myself have checked and there were 26 trucks lined up to take waste and 19 of those trucks or vehicles had waste that were not generated in Georgetown proper…”
“Now all that (waste) has to go to Haags Bosch, and we are therefore appealing to the security people and to those people, particularly those on the East Coast, that they will have to face the difficulty of travelling the extra miles to dispose of their waste.”
The Mayor said that the municipality is dependent on the media as well to appeal to citizens to not litter, taking into consideration the level of indiscipline, which is pervasive in the society, and is often characterised sometimes from the very highest level “even though we have been told there is no breakdown in law and order.”
The Mayor yesterday said, that he expects that persons would seek to report anyone caught dumping at the old site or anywhere in the city, also touted the support of residents themselves to arrest the problem.
To aid this process, he said, that the municipality will set up a hotline in a matter of days which persons can call to report incidents of indiscriminate littering.
“Once persons call the hotline the constabulary will be able to respond with the assistance of the appropriate agencies…So we are asking people not to use the Le Repentir Site because it is closed and to those who generate their own waste, particularly those people with old tyres, because I have been assured that Haags Bosch can take all the waste from the East Bank, East Coast and Georgetown…That’s what it was intended to do.”

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