Dear Editor,
I have read a few of the articles and letters in the media concerning the garbage dump in Le Repentir Cemetery and noted the general alarm and concern the views expressed. I pass that way sometimes and view with consternation and dismay the steady westward expansion of the rubbish ‘mountain.’ I am sure that this is also the feeling of thousands of other citizens who have relatives buried there. How long can this eyesore continue without serious health consequences is open to speculation; suffice it to stay that there will be consequences.
This is a new year, a new decade and we need new solutions to old problems. As such I wish to make the following suggestion as a solution to the problem. There are three islands in the Demerara River and I propose that the government utilizes one of them as a permanent garbage dumpsite for the entire region. Earthen walls can be built around the island chosen to hide the rubbish from the view of both banks of the river, and it would only be visible from passing ships.
In the dry season the garbage can be burnt to reduce the volume, and as for fumes and smell I feel that by the time it reaches the western shore it would have been dissipated by the wind and would not be a major problem. Also scavengers can be better monitored and controlled. Danger to underground aquifers would be minimal and uncontrolled combustion better managed. The garbage would be transported by large pontoons to the island selected.
I am almost certain that the residents of Eccles and the adjacent area are not a little annoyed at the prospect of the Haags Bosch dumpsite becoming fully operational, and would support my suggestion. No one likes a dumpsite on their doorstep and a permanent solution is badly needed.
Yours faithfully,
Gordon Ng-A-Qui
