New plan but little action to solve garbage crisis
It’s a growing story that’s not going to go away any time soon … and one that–for now at least–I take no pleasure in reporting.
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
The only movement that has been going on at the city’s dump site at mile three on the Western Highway is a very large pile of garbage being pushed back a short way. It is a temporary desperate measure by the Belize City Council to clean up a mess that had long ago gotten out of control.
According to Deputy Mayor and councillor responsible for public health Wayne Usher, they simply cannot wait for government to give the go ahead on the new solid waste management project. So until the operation is relocated to a new holding station at mile seven and a permanent landfill at mile twenty-four, they have contracted Cisco Construction to relocate the trash on the compound.
Wayne Usher, Councillor, Public Health
“We are now moving it a further step, where we are clearing down the volume, the height of the garbage, we are pushing it back, levelling it off as the next step. Then after that, after we’ve levelled it considerably more than you see, we will then reconstruct the road leading into the dump so that once the road is reconstructed, reconstituted, the waste control vehicles and any vehicles will go about four hundred feet inwards to the rear of the dump, then they will offload. So we will not have this matter coming to the roadside for the very near future, it is going to be way in the back, dumping, then we will push it even farther down. There is space in the back that you cannot see from the roadside.”
Usher is confident that the plan of action will be able to keep things under control for the time being. But just how much more time can garbage continue to pile up? Usher would not say, other than that the temporary solution will be able to contain the eight hundred tons of garbage that is dumped at the site on a weekly basis.
Wayne Usher
“If you go on top of the ridge you can see that there is space behind there within the boundary of this site. What has been happening is because our equipment is not strong enough to push the garbage way back, it has been moving forward.”
In the meantime Usher again called on the government to do its part.
Wayne Usher
“We are appealing to the government to get the solid waste management project underway. I had a meeting last night with one of the principals that the contract was signed already from 2005 and I cannot understand what’s holding it back from being implemented. I asked the pointed question, is the contract been signed? They said, yes, it was signed from 2005, before the municipal elections. So what is holding it back? The Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister have to tell them to go. I said, so if that permission is given when do you start? We start today that was my understanding.”
Jacqueline Godwin
“But they couldn’t explain to you, what’s the hold up?”
Wayne Usher
“I think that is the politics of the situation, because I have been invited to another meeting with the Solid Waste Management Authority, which I will attend to find out why this project is not moving forward. I think it has to do with the finances, but I won’t speculate on it, I will wait until this afternoon. I am also hearing of a competing bid for this project. This project is big money. We are talking about one point seven million dollars per annum that these people will be getting for the transfer station at mile six or seven for the sanitary landfill site at mile twenty-four, and for hauling the garbage from here up to mile twenty-four; one point seven million dollars thereabouts.”
“We have deduced that the government has collected or will collect by the end of this month, sixty-seven million dollars in environmental, plastic tax whatever you want to call it, sixty seven million dollars. Where is that Jackie, I ask the question. I haven’t seen it. If that was being utilised for its purpose, we wouldn’t be saddled with this monstrosity here. We would already have our transfer station, the solid waste landfill years ago. So if this contract was signed in 2005 and I understand that this project was initiated around 1998, what are we waiting for? The monies collected, the people are ready to go. What is the hold up? Where is the money? It’s a good question that I would want someone to answer.”
“I believe this project has to come about. There are no ifs, buts or maybe. This situation as you properly highlighted shows that we cannot vacillate, we cannot play politics. This is a reality, we cannot stay here any longer, so the government and the Prime Minister has to say go ahead, lets get going. And I am told and informed that once that go ahead to start comes about, within four months we will be able to move because the infrastructure will be put in place within that time for us to go.”
Late word this evening is that following a meeting of the Solid Waste Management Authority it was recommended that a new proposal be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance. It is now being suggested that instead of having a transfer station at mile seven, that facility will now be situated to the back of the existing city dump site on six acres of government land. According to Deputy Mayor Wayne Usher, who attended the meeting, he supports the recommendation. Usher says in one month’s time all the trash to the front of the property will be relocated to the back of the compound eliminating the eye sore. As for the new landfill at mile twenty-four, Usher says the present contract was discarded and new bids will be solicited. Once a contract has been awarded and the necessary infrastructure has been put in place, then the garbage will be regularly shifted from the transfer station to the new landfill site.
