The Interim-Management Committee (IMC) of the Bartica Neighbourhood Democratic Council, in Region Seven, has withdrawn permission it recently granted to a sanitation service to dump garbage at the still under-construction landfill site in the community.
IMC Chairman Ovid Benjamin yesterday admitted that around a month ago permission had been granted to a local entity, Bartica Sanitation Services, to commence dumping at the incomplete site. Benjamin said, however, that this permission was recanted approximately one week ago, after concerns had been raised.
He said that the company has since recommenced dumping operations at the 2nd Avenue dumpsite, where residents had previously complained about being tormented by rodents, flies and mosquitoes, presumably attracted by the garbage.
Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Chairman Gordon Bradford said that he was the one who raised the concerns after the sanitation service’s owner, Wayne Nurse, approached the RDC to confirm the validity of the agreement.
Bradford noted that the IMC authorized the use of the site although it is ill-prepared to accommodate dumping. Nurse allegedly told Bradford that he and an official of the IMC had entered into an oral agreement for his company to commence dumping at the site. Bradford said that after he told Nurse what he was doing was improper, the man reportedly went back to the IMC in an attempt to get written approval, but was unable to get obtain such. He said that a meeting was subsequently called with the IMC which may have led to its decision to cancel dumping at the landfill site.
Bradford said that the dumping at the incomplete landfill site has effectively turned the facility into another dumpsite, which has already become a health hazard. Similar to the dumpsite located at Second Avenue, the Chairman said that the improper dumping at the landfill site has attracted flies and mosquitoes, which have are invading the homes of nearby residents.
Bradford said that the future of Bartica depends heavily on Tourism. This future, he said, must be facilitated by a clean and healthy environment, which is
the opposite of what
currently exists.
Meanwhile, an official from which Cevon’s Waste Management, which is charged with building the landfill, acknowledged that the site was incomplete.
The official, who only identified himself as a “manager,” however, noted that the company was not responsible for the premature dumping at the site. He said Cevon’s had not even commenced garbage collection in the area, let along dumping. He added that he had heard that dumping was taking place at the site but said that Cevon’s had no operatives in Bartica, and could not have been responsible for these instances of dumping.
In relation to the incomplete status of the landfill site, the Cevon’s “manager” explained that the company’s inability to complete the landfill was a result of problems encountered in the construction of the site’s access road. He said that the slope on which the road is to be built has presented certain challenges, including fears that the crusher run they had initially intended to use would be washed down the slope. He said that the current rainy conditions provide even more reason to worry about this washing away of the road.
The man said that the Ministry of Local Govern-ment had been engaged on the matter and had promised to send one of its engineers to the area to make an assessment of the situation. Upon completing the said assessment, he said, the engineer was supposed to suggest an alternative material that would be more compatible with the geography and weather conditions in the area. He said that the company is currently awaiting the completion of this assessment.
