Yesterday when this newspaper spoke to Government Engineer Walter Willis, he said, “the work is behind schedule and the rain is making earth work difficult”.
The contract for Haags Bosch Sanitary Landfill, located behind Eccles, East Bank Demerara, stipulated a construction period of 12 months and an operation period of 10 years. Opening date for the new site was given as January 15.
When this newspaper visited the site yesterday the gates leading to the facility were closed and a lone guard who pointed out he was only hired yesterday stated that his instructions were to let no one in. When Willis was contacted to ask why no one can visit the site he said work was not currently being done at the site and for that reason no one was being allowed in.
He said work was expected to resume tomorrow and only then will persons be allowed to visit the site.
A $9,729,822 contract was awarded to BK International in association with Puran Brothers Disposal Service in November 2009 for the construction of the landfill site.
Any delays in the opening of Haags Bosch would mean further strain on the current Mandela landfill, which had to resort to reopening part of the closed cell number two to avoid encroaching on La Repentir Cemetery.
Mayor of Georgetown Hamilton Green on previous occasions had lamented that the site had outlived its usefulness and posed a great challenge to an already cash strapped Mayor and City Council. Efforts yesterday to contact Green and the City’s Solid Waste Director for comment on the implication of a delay in the opening of Haags Bosch were futile.
In October, the government had announced that one cell at Haags Bosch would be opened to ease the garbage overflow at Mandela. However one month before the opening, it was announced that this cannot happen since there were delays in the delivery of geosynthetic materials including the Leachate collection pipes which need to be at the bottom of the landfill cell before placing of the solid waste.
Yesterday Willis refused to go into detail about the work completed thus far at the site. He said he could not say if the site would be finished on schedule. “All I can say is that the work is behind schedule,” he said.
