| – Contractor In a statement issued by BK International in response to a recent article about several deficiencies in the operation at the Haags Bosch landfill, the contractor has indicated that the site is currently taking in more than it was designed for on a daily basis.According to the statement, BK International was contracted to build and operate the landfill in 2010 in accordance with a design provided by government under an IDB-financed Georgetown Solid Waste Management Programme.A covered cell at the Haags Bosch landfill“The programme has presented ongoing challenges from its commencement, not the least of which is the fact that the landfill was inadequately designed, resulting in frequent changes in the design drawings from the beginning of construction.”The contractor pointed out that the Haags Bosch Landfill was designed to accommodate 250 tons of garbage waste per day, but is already receiving as much as 600 tons per day, over double its designed capacity, at peak periods, hugely increasing the scope of work for which the facility was contracted to operate.According to the statement, the contractor has, nevertheless, accepted the additional waste required for disposal in an effort to accommodate the additional demand made of the site.“The Contractor wishes to further point out that, though the landfill was originally intended to provide for hazardous waste disposal, the Project Manager, Mr. Walter Willis, is yet to approve a design for the construction of a hazardous waste cell.”Further, it was stated that the contractor “must also point out that the Engineer’s estimate for the Project when it was first advertised, and in the contract, is for an expenditure of approximately US$1M on the provision of landfill equipment, but the contractor has already invested from its own resources in excess of US$3M value in equipment to operate the site”.“With regard to the Mayor’s expressed concern about the odour from the landfill affecting nearby housing developments, the Contractor wishes to point out that the demands for the disposal of waste in excess of the designed capacity of the landfill will increase the period of time required to process the waste delivered to the site into the landfill cells and to be covered.”The Contractor has also, from the inception of the operation and on the advice of the Contractor’s Environmental Engineer, Ms. Marie Dalsam, 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. The Contractor has urged the use of ½” stone instead of gravel sand being insisted on 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 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.It should be pointed out that the picture in the Kaieteur News reporting the Mayor’s observations, is at the face of the landfill site showing waste on delivery to the site and, therefore, prior to the process of disposing of the waste into the landfill cells,” the statement concluded. |
