When the hazardous state of Le Repentir landfill was raised yesterday in the National Assembly, Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall absolved the government of any blame, saying that it was the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) which had mismanaged the facility.
“In my own opinion… and those of other technical officials… [it] has been underutilized,” Lall told the House yesterday, while adding that the facility could have taken garbage up to 2 ½ metres higher if it had been managed properly all the time.
Lall said the government has since spent $40 million in acquiring additional equipment to help to bring some kind of order to the site. Lall said the ministry is also contemplating utilizing the Mandela Avenue entrance to the dumpsite in an attempt to better manage the area.
The state of the landfill site was raised by PNCR-1G MP Volda Lawrence who took the opportunity to ask an “oral question without notice”. This opened what at time resembled a debate on the dumpsite as several questions were asked by other opposition members, which were greeted by sometimes lengthy responses by the minister.
“I want to debunk the idea that this has to do with the central government,” Lall said when addressing the state of affairs at the site. He also appealed to “misguided citizens” who he said believe that they can appease the situation by obstructing the place. He said that there were other ways to help the situation.
Lall said that over the years, he had advised the Solid Waste Department of the M&CC how to manage the site but it failed to heed advice. According to him, the department and the contractor managing the site failed to acquire the necessary equipment that would prevent the garbage from overflowing onto the road. He said too that garbage “pickers” were also to blame since they would take items from the dumpsite for some other secondary purpose but would leave them on the side of the road for days.
When Opposition Leader Robert Corbin asked if the central government had not played an instrumental role in awarding the contract to whoever was responsible for the maintenance of the dumpsite, Lall answered in the negative, saying that the M&CC did not even have proper tender practices. “There is no tender in City Hall,” Lall responded sharply.
Corbin also asked whether the government had not promised that the Haags-Bosch facility would have been ready more than four years ago. Lall also denied this saying that the administration did not have the money four years ago.
Lall said the Haags-Bosch landfill site should be operational by the end of January, stating that some 60 per cent of the necessary work has been completed.
Meanwhile, Lall said the administration empathized with the residents affected and said that the Ministry of Health had made several interventions to attempt to appease the situation.
