After receiving reports from residents about the foul odour emanating from the Haags Bosch landfill site at Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD), a ministerial team visited the location to get a firsthand look at the issues.
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, and Minister within the Ministry, Anand Persaud, on Tuesday visited the landfill to address those reports.
Following discussions with the technical team there, Minister Dharamlall explained that they have identified the source and reason for the stench and he said a comprehensive plan will soon be implemented to address this issue.
“Cell one was formally closed sometime in June and they had begun using cell two which has a different type of management, where the daily cover is placed at the end of the day’s collection. They also have some pipes that are placed there to remove the odour quickly as possible.
“In Cell one, [there is] a relatively different design and now what we have found is that after the immediate cover was placed, there has been some visors and that is where the odor is escaping and they have indicated-the contractors that they would be able to fix that in the next few weeks and that they would begin immediately.”
This approach, he noted, will see the implantation of extraction devices to reduce the stench from the closed cell.
Meanwhile, Minister Persaud said the issue needs to rectified as soon as possible, to ensure residents continue to live in comfort.
Ms. Roweena Ramlall, Operations Manager, Waste Solutions Landfill Incorporated, said residents’ complaints will be taken seriously.
“This is an operation [landfill site] that is ongoing and we see ourselves here at the landfill as environmental managers and so that means that we take very seriously the operations to deal with the waste that comes to the site, as well as to mitigate the outcomes of that on the surrounding environment.”
As such, actions will be undertaken to create a fill sequence to address this, Ramlall said.
“We are going to find the shortest possible route for the waste we are receiving to get to the area that we are tipping it into and by doing so we would reduce the uncovered area that we have. This is the source of the complaints that we are getting and so reducing the run for the trucks and being able to cover it efficiently would help to solve this issue,” she explained.
Over 1,200 square metres of cell will be used for this project.
Earlier this year, cell two was officially commissioned. In 2019, S. Jagmohan Hardware Supplies and Construction Services was awarded a $290 million contract to construct cell two. The 18-month project was executed in three phases. [Extracted and Modified from DPI]
