by PHILLIPPE AIMEY

MANGROVE POND LANDFILL will be able to hold more garbage for some time to come, says Richard Boxill, the St Thomas facility's superintendent.

Dispelling doubts about the immediate future of Barbados' lone landfill which handles more than 1 000 tonnes of garbage daily, Boxill said: "There is nothing to worry about and once we can get this island into good solid waste management practices, the lifespan of this landfill will exceed the predictions made by some of the experts."

He said that his confidence was based on the space still available at Mangrove, and the expertise of his staff in compacting the garbage daily, cell-by-cell, across the sprawling 35 acres of land.

What's more, the facility now has access to an additional 12 acres next to it following Government's acquisition of the land. This will be developed in due course.

That apart, the soon-to-be opened Vaucluse Transfer Station should reduce the amount of garbage taken to the landfill.

"Thirty-five to 40 per cent of our waste is tree trimmings, another 30 per cent is construction waste and the remaining per cent is from domestic refuse. The transfer station will receive the waste first, extract the reusable materials and then Mangrove will compact the rest. Tree trimmings . . . will be collected there so immediately our intake is reduced," Boxill said on Friday.

Explaining how the operation has been able to efficiently manage the landfill and keep its scent down to a minimum, Boxill said: "We have very heavy machinery operating here daily and our compact rate is extremely good. Once we cut the road we will be using, we raise a level on either side and start to press the garbage. At the end of every day we spread at least three inches of marl or mole and compact it again."

Keeping out flies

The marlfill is to keep out the flies and prevent the scent from escaping.

We were able to see the two levels being created on either side of the marl path to the dump site. The north side is considerably higher with cells still to be compacted, while the south side has yet to reach that height.

After more than an hour at the landfill the scent was bearable, while the view from atop the "garbage heap" was breathtaking as it looked out to the Sandy Lane Golf Course and the West Coast.

Though buoyed by the job being done at the facility, the superintendent thinks his team would be able to do an even better job if it had more equipment.

"Machinery is another vital part of waste management and our tractors operate for 12 hours each day non-stop, so they will require a certain level of maintenance.

"What I'd like to see is that Mangrove be outfitted with additional equipment . . . to back up those already in operation. We have to compact quickly and on time to control the scent and the space, and when you have to pause to rent a machine it becomes costly. Additional tractors on site for rotation is critical," he said.

According to our investigations, it would cost the Sanitation Service Authority $54 648 to rent a D9 tractor for one week if one of its tractors went out of commission.

That aside, Boxill said the only urgent need they had at Mangrove was for a water truck to wet the path to the landfill and its surroundings, periodically during the day.

"I'm concerned for my staff with the level of dust that is generated. Trucks come in and out for 12 hours each day and the dust will rise. Once we can have a truck to wet the loose areas, the dust would settle and the problem [would be] eliminated," he said.

The superintendent declined to answer questions on the proposed new landfill in Greenland, St Andrew, where an estimated $50 million had already been spent.

"I can only speak about the area I manage. Mangrove as it is still has adequate room for Barbados' solid waste. The bonus is that we now have an additional 12 acres of land to consider and that has not been touched yet, so in the short term there is nothing to worry about." * phillippeaimey@nationnews.com