EPA approves Lethem’s sanitary landfill site

A conditional approval has now been granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Mayor and Town Council of Lethem in Region Nine in regard to the site for its sanitary landfill, as this municipality aims for improved solid waste management within the town.

According to the Department of Public information, following an intervention by the Ministry of Communities to assist the town of Lethem, a service contract to the tune of $36.3 million was awarded to International Imports and Exports to manage the town’s solid waste for 18 months.
Lethem Mayor Kerry Jarvis has applauded the initiative, since the past state of the site has affected the health and well-being of the residents. The Mayor noted that, being a new town, Lethem will be able to overcome its solid waste management issues with the help of the Communities Ministry.
The contractor began operating on the site back in March of this year, and the state of the site has now been transformed. All the waste has been removed, and is now under control.
A team of engineers from the Ministry of Communities on Thursday visited the site and expressed satisfaction at its current state. Senior Engineer attached to the Sanitation Management Unit, Satro Nauth, has said that when the contract comes to an end, the site is expected to be developed into a sanitary landfill facility similar to the sites in Linden, Region Ten; Mahdia, Region Eight; and Bartica, Region Seven.
“The site has gotten conditional approval from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). We did some groundwork for the development of a sanitary facility, so we are running the service contract and our intention is to develop it into a sanitary facility,” Nauth said.
He also said, “The contractor is responsible for providing a machine to accept the waste, compact the waste, and cover the waste at the end of the day. He has been doing a good job so far (in) maintaining the site, keeping record of the amount of waste that comes, and who disposes of the waste.”
Back in August of 2017, the Ministry of Communities signed a contract for the design and construction of sanitary landfill sites for the municipalities of Linden, Mahdia and Bartica. The project was aimed at safeguarding the well-being of the residents of those communities while simultaneously providing modern waste disposal facilities which would be environmental friendly.