– as former managing company, GIACC, loses court case against NICIL
Authorities at the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LM&TC) will soon manage the security and access to the Linden Blue Lake, one of the region’s largest tourist attractions.
The change in management was revealed by Linden Mayor Sharma Solomon during this month’s statutory meeting.
According to the Mayor, the area was once managed by the Guyana Initiative Against Climate Change (GIACC), as a result of which a security checkpoint was established within the parameters of the location.
However, Solomon revealed that as a result of GIACC recently losing its legal battle for the area against state-owned company, NICIL (National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited), the area is currently without security.
“The Blue Lake, we have a new arrangement at Blue Lake; the persons who were actually managing the facility, which was before the courts, have lost the case. However, we used the Blue Lake and that is why there was an area that we dump refuse. Now the point is, there is no safe security at the Blue Lake. It was maintained by the persons who lost the court case.”
Linden Blue Lake
On this point the Mayor revealed that with no security, the area has been left vulnerable, noting that persons are known to indiscriminately dump garbage in the area; a problem which authorities have been battling for some time now.
He added that they have also been incidents where industrial operators were seen extracting materials from the area, such as sand and laterite.
“So, I’m giving you what was said, because what you have when you don’t have the security, is the indiscriminate use of the facility in terms of persons, not only to use it, but to dump materials and also to extract materials- because people are moving sand and laterite from the area also. So, because you had that security checkpoint there, that was taken care of by the individual who lost the case; it restricted a lot of abuse of the site.”
Given that the council uses a part of the facility to dispose of the town’s waste, several persons who are responsible for maintaining the area have requested help from the council to provide security for the area. In this regard the council made a decision to deploy security personnel at the location.
“So they’re saying- they’re asking the council- if the council can support the maintenance of the security as much as those who are also using it. So, I’ll ask if the committee, one of the committees – especially for environmental committee that’s our use of the facility: for the environmental purpose of our dump site – can look at this issue of how that location is being maintained, managed in terms of a security representative or personnel there.”
Meanwhile, in a bid to better manage the town’s waste the LM&TC, is currently engaging with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to scope out a new suitable area to establish a dumpsite. The town council had previously explained that the area should not have been designated as a dumpsite, given its close proximity to the lake.
While stakeholders consult on the establishment of a new dumpsite, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with Bauxite company BOSAI Limited, to manage the waste at the area.
In October 2021, it was revealed that 200 square metres (m²) of land within the vicinity of the lake, which was being used by the council for the disposal of waste, was at maximum capacity, which subsequently resulted in garbage being dumped onto the side of the access road.
Following several complaints from residents, the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry had awarded a $10 million contract to clear the access road leading to the Kara Kara dumpsite, which was overflowing with solid waste, negatively impacting the tourism potential of the Kara Kara Blue Lake and its environs.
