Dear Editor,
I refer to the letter in SN by Mr Jermaine Grant, captioned ‘Smoke from the Mandela landfill is making life unbearable for residents.’
Operations at the Le Repentir disposal ‘dump’ site have resulted in much inconvenience to residents nearby. This is tragic and unacceptable. The municipality is responsible for this facility and on behalf of the council I apologize and express deep regret to the hundreds who are being adversely affected.
Unfortunately, some set of very senior persons feel that this is an occasion to demean the municipality and make political mileage out of the distress and discomfort of citizens.
Those who have been attempting via the media to chastise the Georgetown Mayor and City Council and their officials should do well to note that the schools nearest this dumpsite, (St Stephens, etc) the sole responsibility of central government are in such an unsatisfactory state that on the very day that certain officials found it necessary to lambast us, parents expressed the view that the schools should be closed until proper facilities were in place for their children.
Unlike the municipality, the central government ministries cannot claim to be cash strapped. It is important, therefore, that we set out the background to this situation. For us, this is not a time for political grandstanding, because people’s safety and health are at risk.
When the municipality opened the dumpsite in 1983 at the back of the Le Repentir it was intended to last for a period of two years with an alternative site to be identified for long-term operation. In collaboration with central government, the search began and a number of proposals were put to the government, such as proposals for an area along the Linden/Soesdyke highway; the use of mined out pits in the bauxite areas and placing the waste in barges for export. Later, a pre-feasibility study was done to identify a suitable site. After closing BGCC we returned to the cemetery area, conscious that with the increased waste being generated, we needed somewhere with a much longer life. After wide consultations, a feasibility study was done and a site behind Eccles was identified.
During discussions the Mayor and City Council expressed reservations about excluding an incinerator from the project; the removal from the proposal of fencing the 29 acre Le Repentir site; and the organization of ‘litter pickers.’ We considered the fencing of the area vital because it was clear we would need to spend another two-plus years before moving to Eccles.
Recall in collaboration with the Ministry of Works, we began by installing lights in this area and earned the criticism of citizens that we were ignoring the living, while lighting up where the dead rested. Funds were not available to fence this area.
What is interesting is that at a meeting summoned at the instance of the Minister of Local Government held on Wednesday, September 10, 2008, we agreed on a number of measures. That day, the Mayor visited that community and even included a visit at 6 am on that Wednesday morning and spoke with the residents seeking their forbearance.
We learnt that the Minister proposed to visit the site on Thursday at 9.30. Duty bound the Mayor, the Town Clerk, the City Engineer, the Direc-tor of Solid Waste and other officials arrived on the site at 9 am and spent two hours there mobilizing personnel and attempting to deal with administrative matters, while awaiting the Minister.
Later that day the Deputy Mayor on his way home dropped in to overlook the situation and found the Minister of Works and Local Govern-ment on site directing operations.
Neither the Mayor nor the Director of Solid Waste or anyone at City Hall was informed of this visit and so were therefore not on hand. Further comment is not necessary.
Recall from April 1993 to July 1993, the Le Repentir site was used for four months, and we then moved to the BGCC on Thomas Lands from July 1993 to February 1995, then back to the Le Repentir from February 1995 to the present.
At the end of March 1995 our Medical Officer of Health (MOH), Dr Sultan Kassim continued the effort for a long-term, twenty-five (25) year sanitary landfill site and wrote the government and Guysuco suggesting that we needed in excess of four hundred (400) acres. During the incumbency of Mayor Ranwell Jordan, the Com-pany Secretary/Legal Officer, Mr Lancaster, in a letter dated October 30, 1995 indicated that the Board of Directors had given approval to lease to the council Field 17-22 Eccles, East Bank Demerara for use as a landfill site, and by that letter gave the council permission to enter on the site for the purpose of carrying out works.
The sugar corporation also at that time agreed to
undertake the grading of the access dam and construction of a bridge to the landfill site. This was contingent on a government fiat.
At the instance of the government, negotiations were held with the IDB for a new project. In the meantime, the municipality through Dr Kassim, Medical Officer of Health, and Mr Maurice Walker pleaded with the government through the minister for Guysuco to release to release to the municipality79 acres of land at Eccles to do the initial landfilling activity so as to close the Le Repentir operation. We were very conscious and made it known to the government that to continue operating at the back of the cemetery would present serious difficulties.
The Minister than proposed to release only fifteen (15) acres. In a letter dated July 8, 1997, our Chief Medical Officer pointed out, that “fifteen (15) acres” would be inadequate to do any proper landfilling and would be rejected by the EPA and EIA. We reminded the Minister of Regional Development about their promise to have constructed two bridges and an all-weather road from the public road to the proposed landfill site.
Those requests have been repeated ad nauseam from the early 1990s.
The problem at the landfill facility is complex. We believe with the best of efforts there will always be spontaneous combustion, particularly during a long dry season. The municipality welcomes and is grateful for the assistance offered by the Ministry of Local Government and Works, but will not remain silent while officials seek to lay all the blame for the untenable situation at the feet of the municipality.
We do not deny that the Georgetown municipality has serious administrative weaknesses worsened by a financial and institutional problem, but this site ought to have been closed at least eight (8) yeas ago and the government is aware of this. The result is we are storing all waste at this dumpsite.
During the tenure of Dr Vibart Shury as Medical Officer of Health, we visited facilities in North America and had strongly recommended to government we be allowed to acquire an incinerator to complement solid waste disposal.
We stand ready to work with the government, private sector and the citizens to deal with a very serious environmental and health problem. May I state that in all this, the Mayor and City Council have received excellent cooperation from Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy and wish to publicly acknowledge the professional manner and ready response to help.
Today a team led by our Medical Officer of Health, Dr B Jeffrey with the assistance of Minister of Health personnel is in the area contiguous to the landfill site to assist persons who may be suffering from the smoke and smell emanating from the dumpsite.
I repeat, this is certainly not the time for attempting to blame anyone, but to combine our material, intellectual and financial resources to solve a problem created by some of the conditions to which I earlier referred. In addition, we recommend an earlier proposal that the Government of Guyana should consider the introduction of an effective waste reduction policy.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green, JP
Mayor
