The Communities Ministry through its Sanitation Management Unit has embarked on a cycle of recovery efforts to correct the disaster at which erupted at the Haags Bosch Landfill, Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD), during a dumpsite fire back in 2015.
It was reported that phase one of the recovery works is almost completed, which
Cell 1 of the Haags Bosch Landfill
saw the restoration of the disposal facilities at Eccles, EBD.
This announcement was made during a media tour to the dumpsite on Friday, at which the Site Supervisor, Lloyd Stanton, explained the progress made ever since the massive destruction.
Stanton noted that the site features four dumping cells, of which only one has been used since its existence. As such, the Supervisor pointed out that clearing and preparing that cell is paramount to ensuring continued disposal at that landfill.
The Supervisor indicated that, “We had a chaotic situation when we had a big fire. The first phase is to get from that confusing state to bring back the landfill to somewhat normalcy, called a controlled dumping setting.”
“That phase would have included moving all unwanted garbage from around the
Minister Hastings being briefed during the site tour
dumpsite, getting it to Cell One, compacting it and covering it,” he conveyed.
Stanton further noted, “We would’ve successfully completed phase one which is expected to end in September and in phase two we’ll see the reinstatement of the roads buildings and we hope to reinstate education for the staff.” This is set to commence in October.
Joining the tour on Friday was the Minister within the Communities Ministry, Dawn Hastings, who commended the restoration efforts undertaken at the Haags Bosch Landfill.
Even though Hastings expressed delight in the ongoing operations at the Eccles, the Minister outlined her concerns at several levels. “While I’m happy that some things are in place, I’ve seen for myself they need to improve the road coming onto
The shredder installed at Haags Bosch
Haags Bosch, and have these things before the year end. I was able also to observe the existing cell and to my common knowledge, we should start working on cell number two, we should not wait until that is filled.”
Adding to the recovery works, the facilities recently installed two different shredding machines, which allows for the disintegration of tires and trees, maximising on space at the disposal site. This is as Haags Bosch gears up to implement a more eco-friendly waste management system, by employing the waste separation and recycling approach. As such, the shredded trees will be transfer to a decomposition site, while the chopped up tires is to be used in setting the foundations when building roads or even used to lay the base of the drainage systems at the landfill. The shredders have been in operations for about two weeks now and are still in the testing phase. The Haags Bosch Landfill was commissioned in 2011 to replace the overused Mandela, Georgetown dumpsite after the polluted facilities became a health hazard within the city. As such, the Eccles facility is now the sole disposal site for waste emanating from Georgetown and its environs.
