Garbage disposal in the city has been affected by bad weather at the current landfill site at Haags Bosch on the East Bank of Demerara.
Georgetown Mayor Alfred Mentore, along with Deputy Mayor Denise Miller, Solid Waste Director Walter Narine, and the Chairman of the Finance Committee Lelon Saul, held a press conference yesterday to address criticisms by PPP/C councillors.
These councillors had visited the Princes Street facility earlier in the day to assess what was happening at the Municipal Solid Waste Management Department and to find out why garbage around the city was not being picked up.
Solid Waste Director Narine stated that there are 15 constituencies, 12 of which are contracted. He explained that Cevons Waste Management has five contracts, Guyana Waste Solutions has another five, Sandip has one, and Puran’s Brothers Waste Management has one, while the City’s Solid Waste Department manages three.
He stated that for a month, the city experienced heavy rainfall consistently. “What that did is make it very muddy and silty where you dispose all the garbage in George-town, Haags Bosch landfill. The cell where you actually dispose the garbage became so muddy that when the trucks get in there, you can’t actually see the wheels anymore.” He related that this has caused many hiccups for the garbage disposal teams as they face damage to their tyres and trucks sometimes become stuck. “This is not something new; this is something that happens every year during the rainy period.”
Narine then addressed the issue of two to three weeks of garbage not being disposed of around the city. “Those areas were East La Penitence, North East La Penitence, West and East Ruimveldt, Middle Road La Penitence, and the East La Penitence Boulevard, and the commercial areas.” He stated that the commercial areas, however, were not as affected, and it was only four days of non-collection.
He pointed out that the businesspersons along Regent Street and other commercial areas who accumulate garbage every day, would just dump it on the road, save for the five per cent of businesses that have waste receptors.
“This is something we can’t accept anymore. Imagine four days of that!” He said that this, coupled with the rain, did not make the work any easier, resulting in three contractors being affected. “It had Cevons Waste Manage-ment, who has constituencies 1 to 12. His collection day is Friday. He has been collecting waste Friday and Saturday. Sandip has Constituency 3. He has Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to complete his one constituency. For the last three weeks, he has been completing his constituency on Saturdays and Sundays. That is because of the rain, the landfill, and sometimes the trucks go down.”
Narine then touched on Guyana Waste Solutions which has 5 constituencies, and was classed as the “worst of the contracts.”
“These are areas that generate the most garbage in Georgetown: Albouys-town, Charlestown, Wort-manville, Werk-en-Rust.” He noted that so far, only a few areas are 100 per cent complete with garbage collection, with the areas that have carried over to the new week being Albouys-town, Charlestown, Wort-manville, and Werk-en-Rust. He said the issue at the landfill will probably need another week of sunshine to be rectified as trucks continue to come back with punctured tyres.
In a video seen by Stabroek News, PPP/C councillors, Don Singh, Alfonso De Armas, Steven Jacobs and Bisham Bipat were present at the Municipal Solid Waste Department on Princes Street, where they pointed out various shortcomings of the council. In the video, a piece of old equipment was waterlogged, and upon closer inspection, mosquito larvae could be seen on top of the water. Also, various sections of the facility were stacked with old galvanized sheets and other waste. However, a major concern for the councillors at the site was the grass-covered garbage dumpsters.
At the press conference, questions were asked about the cost for garbage collection to which Mentore responded that he would disclose that information at the next statutory meeting on Monday. (Mia Anthony)
