BK International says the Haags Bosch Landfill that it was contracted to build and operate is accepting double the capacity of waste per day it was designed to accommodate and has presented ongoing challenges from the commencement of the project.
According to a press release from Public Communications Consultants Limited, BK noted the comments made by Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green regarding the operations at the landfill as reported in the Monday edition of the Kaieteur News.
BK International was contracted to build and operate the landfill in 2010 in accordance with a design provided by government under an IDB-funded Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme. The contractor said from the beginning the programme experienced a number of challenges, not the least of which is the fact that the landfill was inadequately designed, resulting in frequent changes in the design drawings from the start of construction.
The Haags Bosch facility was designed to accommodate 250 tons of garbage waste per day but it is already receiving as much as 600 tons per day which is more than double its designed capacity, at peak periods, greatly increasing the scope of work which the facility was contracted to operate. Nevertheless the contractor has accepted the additional waste required for disposal in an effort to accommodate the additional demand made of the site.
Further, the contractor wishes to point out that though the landfill was originally intended to provide for hazardous waste disposal, the Project Manager, Walter Wills, is yet to approve a design for the construction of a hazardous waste cell. BK also noted that the engineer’s estimate for the project when it was first advertised, and in the contract, is for an expenditure of about US$1M on the provision of landfill equipment, but the contractor has already invested from its own resources more than US$3M value in equipment to operate the site.
With regard to the mayor’s expressed concern about the odour from the landfill affecting the nearby housing developments, the contractor said that since the demand for waste disposal is more than the designed capacity of the landfill, it will increase the period of time required to process the waste delivered to the site into the landfill cells and to be covered.
According to the release, from the start of operations, and on the advice of its environmental engineer Marie Dalsam, the contractor differed with the project manager on the material to be used as ballast layer to cover the cells which will affect the odour emanating from the site. BK had urged the use of ½ inch stone instead of gravel sand being insisted upon by the project manager. “The use of gravel sand will cause clogging and will prevent the free flow of leachate causing fouling and the resultant environmental distress,” the release said. The contractor’s position on environmental control of the site has become even more critical as a result of the government changing the boundaries to allow closer proximity of housing developments to the landfill.
The contractor also notes that the picture carried in the Kaieteur News article is at the face of the landfill site showing waste delivery to the site; therefore, prior to the process of disposing of the waste into the landfill cells. “BK International has continued to operate the site well beyond its contractual obligations in the public interest and at a considerable loss,” the release said.
