Mr. Cuthwin Webster with team and machine
The daily disposal of fifty tons of solid waste material, at the Corito landfill, can absorb the some 17-acre site in a relatively short time with mounds of unsightly and harmful garbage piling up. But thanks to thoughtful plans now underway the area is being firmly packed, flattened and covered over. The hopeful result is that the bothersome flies, rodents, other vectors, odors etc emanating there, and threatening parts of the island, will be fully under control thus ensuring better public health.
In the words of Mr. Foster Rogers, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health: “This will ensure that the level of pests and other vectors in the landfill site. The special equipment is to ensure that the thick mass of garbage is compacted at a very high rate so that the landfill site is at a higher standard.”
The improvement and modernizing of the landfill is a collaborative effort involving the Government of Anguilla and Webster’s Management Group Ltd, the latter being represented by Mr. Cuthwin Webster. He has recently taken delivery of a costly landfill compactor, from the United States, which is being used to increase compaction levels of household waste – allowing for the expansion of the lifespan of the site.
The operations of the Aljon compactor were viewed on Monday, January 14, by officials of Government and the Environment Health Unit. The special machine weighs 107,000 pounds and has 48’’ x 2’’ M-Trax Diamond wheels with a 15’3” blade for crushing and cutting debris.
Ms. Kathleen Rogers, Principal Environment Health Officer, who was among the officials viewing the machine, said that further improvement work includes the construction of a waste transfer point at the entrance to the site. This will ensure that users separate their solid waste material into timber, plastics, food items, metal etc. There will also be a composting facility for green waste and liquid waste.
Ms. Rogers continued: “Fencing and CCTV will be installed around the site to increase security. There will be an autoclave facility to safely dispose medical and pharmaceutical wastes. Bore hole wells will be dug strategically within the site to allow for better groundwater monitoring. This is an essential part of operating a landfill to ensure that groundwater is not contaminated. Hazardous wastes such as chemicals are to be stored separately depending on final disposal methods required.
“The site receives approximately 50 tons of waste daily. While Government is modernizing the landfill, which is an essential part of responsibly disposing refuse, we can all help to reduce the need for landfill space by recycling and reusing as much of our garbage as we can every day.”
Asked to elaborate on the covering of the site, Ms. Rogers replied: “We do need to cover household waste, and when compacted well it will be covered with a thick amount of crushed material as we do every day. We have more than enough covering material.”
Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, commented: “The Aljon compactor is a very valuable and useful piece of equipment in terms of maintaining the dumpsite. I know that dumpsites all over the world have this kind of equipment because it creates an efficient way of dealing with the compaction of garbage. That is one of the issues we have here in Anguilla. I would like to congratulate Mr. Cuthwin Webster for an initiative he took, on his own, but it is something to assist all of us to manage our dumpsite in a proper way.”
The Minister of Health and Social Development, Mr. Evans Rogers, stated: “It is all an effort of upgrading and taking care of the landfill site, and maximizing what we have. It is going to take a lot of equipment and expense. The folks who are experts in this area are doing what they suppose to do and it is up to them. This is just one step among a number of other steps. We don’t have a lot of space and we have to consider land conservation, and so we have to utilize and maximize this Corito area so that we can have it for generations to come.”
Mr. Cuthwin Webster said that the cost of the used machine, a 2008 unit, was US$140,000 including freight, delivered to Anguilla. “It is fairly new,” he added. “It just got beaten up on the boat. If it was brand new, the price would be anything from US$500,000 to US$700,000.”
