Private waste collectors from nine regions who have indicated an interest in disposing of refuse at open landfill sites have until July 16 to indicate their continued interest in the project, after a recent meeting with the local government ministry to discuss guidelines that will govern their partnership with the ministry.
A Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, said the ministry is expected to have a watchdog role in the partnership; monitoring, evaluating and policing waste collection done by the private garbage collectors. In exchange, the private contractors are expected to develop the proposed landfill sites that have since been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and dispose of the waste in their regions.
According to the agreement, the contractors will have sole occupancy and monopoly of the site and the regions’ waste and together with the ministry will negotiate and agree on charges for waste disposal which are expected to be calculated per barrel, regardless of its content. At the deadline the ministry will meet, separately, each contractor that has agreed to go ahead with the project to determine the way forward, GINA said.
“The developing and opening of a landfill site in the regions is part of the ministry’s attempt to cope with the excess waste disposal at the Haags Bosch Facility, Region Four and also an attempt to manage the number of illegal dumpsites littering the regions,” GINA said. On June 7, the ministry conducted a site visit with stakeholders to find workable solutions to a number of problems that have come up during the construction and running of the site.
