Garbage dump gets a facelift
In the past the dumpsite at mile three on the Western Highway has posed many health risks and on several occasions, has burned for weeks on end. But since April of this year, the dumpsite has been undergoing a major facelift to prevent these problems. With six hundred thousand dollars provided thus far by the Inter-American Development Bank (I.D.B.), the scope of the effort by the Belize Solid Waste Management Authority was to partially close the site and install the necessary engineering features to minimize danger. Today the authority handed over the newly made-over garbage dump to Belize City Mayor, Zenaida Moya Flowers. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, reporting
The partial closure of the dumpsite at mile three on the Western Highway was undertaken to do more than just create a facelift of the area. Its purpose goes much deeper than aesthetics, according to Ramy Chia of the Belize Solid Waste Management Authority.
Ramy Chia, Technical Environmental Specialist, Bz. Solid Waste Management Authority
Ramy Chia
“We have made somewhat of an all-weather access road to the site. We have also created different cells where dumping will occur. We have placed dumping bays in the cells so that on a rainy day you can still dump, you can go onto the hard core and dump your garbage and the City Council bulldozer is supposed to be the one to come and spread the garbage on a daily basis.”
The enhancement comes in a timely fashion and creates better manageability, says City Mayor, Zenaida Moya Flowers.
Zenaida Moya Flowers, Belize City Mayor
Zenaida Moya Flowers
“Right along you will start to see that gas pipes have been installed and these gas pipes are there to ensure that the methane will start to seep through these gas pipes. So we are already preparing for that through this project.”
Marion Ali
“What if there’s flooding caused by a hurricane?”
Zenaida Moya Flowers
“The project does address it and it does have a drainage component to it that is built in and if you go along you will see that theirs is specific drainage areas to establish that you won’t have this flooding. We are right along the sea, but we know that we have to have a proper drainage project to ensure that whatever flooding that it is properly controlled.”
But aside from these problems, Belize City south side residents are no strangers to the nuisance the dumpsite can be when there are fire outbreaks that burn wildly out of control and create visibility problems for motorists using that portion of the highway.
Ramy Chia
“There was a risk of fires here with the spread of the garbage randomly all over the place. So we’ve created some barriers to separate that and the cells are separated to control the fires and also for the controlled dumping that we’re expecting the City Council to undertake hereafter.”
The portions of the dumpsite that were closed were filled with compact clay before gravel roads were created for better accessibility. Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.
