The Haags Bosch Landfill Facility will be opened from 8 am to 6 pm as of Monday, while measures have been put in place to improve the garbage situation in Georgetown.
Citizens had resorted to dumping garbage at just about every street corner for several weeks after failure by the Mayor and City Council to make garbage collections as scheduled. This was the result of the mechanical failure of many of the city’s trucks and the lack of funds to repair and maintain them.
Stabroek News spoke to Deputy Mayor (Acting), Patricia Chase-Green, and it was disclosed that a meeting was conducted yesterday morning with Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud, and Minister within the Ministry, Norman Whittaker, who took the decision to extend the opening hours of the dumpsite.
“We were told that come Monday, the opening time for the Haags Bosch landfill site will be from 8 am to 6 pm so there will be a little more leverage even though we wanted it until 7,” Chase-Green said.
She claimed that there has been some improvement in the condition of the city as regards dumping and said this was owing to meetings conducted with contractors as well as several programmes that have since been put in place.
“The contractors were called in and we spoke to them and there has been some improvement. We have also been working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to start a fogging exercise and there is also to be a drainage exercise with the Ministry of Public Works starting from Agricola right down to help with the drainage situation,” she indicated.
In addition to this, Chase-Green pointed out that a health education programme was launched in schools last month and serves to inform students on proper disposals of their garbage. “We will try our best to keep the city as clean as possible,” she said.
With reference to a letter published in Wednesday’s edition of the Stabroek News, headlined “M&CC mechanical workshop is a graveyard for vehicles”, Chase-Green said the workshop manager repeatedly complains of insufficient funds to upkeep the vehicles and this may have resulted in such critical remarks.
When asked why the council has not yet moved to shut down this operation, she noted that councillors have shared this same concern for some time but no action has been taken.
“That’s a concern councillors also have and over a period of time we have been questioning the workshop manager to give us responses for vehicles that have been lying there for perhaps a spark plug and the response you get is there is no money… But while our vehicle may be down for a spark plug, they are hiring a vehicle that you are paying millions for and that has been a concern,” she noted.
Chase-Green recalled when fully computerized garbage trucks were bought but no one was competent enough to work with the equipment. “Even though it was a majority decision by council to buy the trucks, a concern was that it is computerized and if anything goes wrong with spare parts and all that… We were given the assurance by the workshop manager that yes these trucks can be bought, they can be used and can be repaired. Lo and behold, in less than a year, all the trucks are down and these are the concerns that are being raised because the vehicles are not working for some minor, minor reasons,” she stated.
With regard to the presentation of the budget, Chase-Green said it is completed and is expected to be presented at the next statutory meeting.
She noted that the Finance Chairman (Acting), Junior Garrett, indicated that there was a setback as a result of not acquiring the kind of information that was needed from the Treasurer’s Department but assured that it is now completed.
“The figures they were giving us were not corresponding over a period of time but it is finished now,” she said, adding that it must be brought to council for approval before being presented to the public.
