The fires at the Princes Street landfill have been brought under control, Local Govern-ment Minister Kellawan Lall said yesterday, but nominal equipment will remain at the site in case of any reoccurrences of fire and smoke.
At a press conference held by him and Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn, Lall said now that the fires were under control he hoped City Hall would employ proper management to deal with the situation given that other entities have stepped in and lent assistance.
Meanwhile, the doctor who had advised residents in the surrounding areas to evacuate their homes, was “preemptive” and spoke without consulting the Ministry of Health, Minister within that ministry Dr Bheri Ramsarran said yesterday.
According to a press release issued on Sunday, Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, said the only immediate risk the residents faced was sporadic fires and there was no need for any evacuations.
The waste management crisis remains an issue as residents concerns over their health mount, but Ramsammy said in the statement that the ministry was intensifying its service to the areas though there was no significant health threat.
Surveillance teams from the ministry have been monitoring the situation and providing daily reports, Ramsammy said, adding that a special health team was put together to look into the issue.
He said whenever there were potential risks to health, “all possibilities including evacuation have to be considered only as the last resort”.
Medical Officer of Health attached to the municipality, Ethiopian Dr B Jeffrey, had told several residents of the area that they should evacuate their homes.
Ramsarran told Stabroek News yesterday that he heard Dr Jeffrey make the evacuation call on television, but she was being preemptive, and that she spoke before consulting with the ministry.
“She made some strong recommendations but should have consulted with us prior to making them and she would have been advised,” he added.
According to Ramsarran, the situation facing residents in the immediate and surrounding areas was an “unpleasant one but is not dangerous”. He said that the ministry was working to bring some comfort to residents.
He said persons with young children should consider keeping them indoors until the situation has been resolved. Ramsarran added that more aggressive measures needed to be taken at the dumpsite to ensure that the situation did not recur; adding that there were only a few options outside of plans to relocate the landfill, which have been delayed for years now.
The Health Ministry is currently compiling a register of persons living in the affected areas including infants, pregnant women, elderly persons with existing diseases, particularly heart disease and persons living with asthma and respiratory tract diseases. Additionally, health centres in the affected areas are on alert.
Meanwhile, Lall said that though the fires had been put out, residents in the area would be affected by odours from the dumpsite for some time because its contents had been churned up when the fires were being put out.
He said that “pickers” who were kept away from the dumpsite while the fires were being put out were going to be allowed back in, but they would have to be organized.
Lall said he has been in dialogue with Acting Town Clerk Yonette Pluck and has advised that pickers be registered, properly monitored and asked to alert security in the event of any small fires starting.
The minister also reiterated that the landfill was under the direct management of City Hall. He said the municipality has always had the equipment to deal with situations at the dumpsite. He said he hoped better mechanisms would be put in place to manage the landfill.
Meanwhile, Benn said the situation at the dumpsite would not have escalated if recommendations made had been heeded by City Hall prior to Carifesta X, which was hosted here last month.
He made reference to the plan proposed by the two NGOs – the Guyana Human Rights Association and the Guyana Citizens Initiative — which they had said would see the fires out in two weeks. The minister said the fires were put out in under one week.
However, he said that he totally agreed with the management principles the NGOs outlined.
He said there was room for continued operations on the western side of the dump but emphasized that proper management needed to be implemented.
Both ministers commended the Guyana Fire Service for stepping in and rendering assistance. Asked why the fire service was not deployed earlier, Lall reiterated that City Hall has always had the equipment to effectively deal with the landfill.
According to research, open dumpsites, such as the one at Princes Street, present different risks, depending on the types of waste placed there, the environmental conditions at the site, and the proximity of vulnerable communities.
According to Envirotech Online, the methane in landfill gas, when combined with oxygen, can create a combustible and even explosive mix.
In an article reviewing landfills in China, ahead of an environmental conference to be held there from September 23 – 25, Envirotech said that the bad-smelling gases from dumpsites contain many trace elements, for example sulfur compounds, that are damaging to health even in low concentrations.
As well as the dangers posed to human health, untreated gas escaping from landfill sites in an uncontrolled manner also has an impact on the climate, the article said. Methane is regarded as one of the substances causing the destruction of the ozone layer; it is 20 times more powerful in its contribution to the greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide.
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