Work at the landfill has resumed following a fire which broke out on Sunday morning, blanketing the surrounding area with thick, black smoke.
Yesterday at the site bulldozers and were back to work building up the garbage. Security personnel at the site said the fire was put out promptly on Sunday but as a precaution, the area is being doused with water occasionally.
The fire broke out at the part of the landfill bordering Le Repentir Cemetery. Residents in the area reported hearing a few loud explosions before the section of the landfill which borders the cemetery erupted in flames.
Yesterday, the deputy director of the Mayor and City Council’s Solid Waste Management Department stated that the cause of the fire was unknown but speculated that it could have been started from cans combusting or from someone dropping a lit cigarette butt.
Fire at the dumpsite has been a long-standing problem. Late last year, the site had caught fire and it took nearly two days to put out the flames.
Sunday’s fire comes a mere week before the Haags Bosch Landfill facility behind Eccles Industrial Estate, East Bank Demerara is expected to open.
Yesterday, Minister of Local Government Kellawan Lall called Sunday’s fire an “unfortunate situation”, but reiterated that the cell at Haags Bosch will be opened as planned, a move that is more than welcomed by residents in area around the current landfill.
