Govt opens US$19mn Haags Bosch landfill

Guyana's government has officially opened the first cell of the Haags Bosch sanitary landfill in East Bank Demerara region, which will receive waste from 15 districts of capital Georgetown. Construction of the facility cost some G$4bn (US$19.6mn), state news agency GINA reported. The project was financed by an US$18mn IDB loan and the government has allocated an additional G$800mn in the 2011 budget. The first cell can currently accept about two months' worth of garbage and will be fully operational within a few days, according to local government and regional development minister Kellawan Lall. Each of the landfill's four cells will cover 6.5ha and will take 10 years to reach full capacity. The Haags Bosch facility will replace the Le Repentir dump, where cell 3 has stopped receiving garbage in preparation for its closure over the next few weeks, the report said.