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Rs 3b for Aruwakkalu Waste Management- Budget 2018
View(s):The Govt’s 2018 Budget has allocated Rs 3 billion to accelerate the Aruwakkalu Waste Management programme which includes the construction of a sanitary landfill.
Denying inefficiencies had held up the project, Megapolis & Western Development Minister Champika Ranawaka this week said the initiative will be completed on schedule, after meeting environmental prerequisites and tender procedures.
The proposal for a sanitary landfill put forward by the previous Govt failed its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
The Finance Ministry’s allocation of funds for Waste Management, allegedly, was not used. “Everyone knows we have a garbage crisis,” said Minister Ranawaka at a press conference. “In Colombo alone, we generate approximately 700 tons of garbage daily. When you count what is collected from Dehiwela-Mt Lavinia, Moratuwa, Maharagama, Kaduwela and Wattala, it rises to around 1,500 tons.”
However, the country did not have suitable Waste Management Centres (WMC). Waste was initially dumped at Bloemendhal and Meethotamualla. It now goes to Karadiyana, causing social issues. Earlier attempts to set up WMCs with World Bank funds and Korean assistance, failed due to political pressure and public protests. An integrated Waste Management system was, however, installed in Dompe.
In August 2014, the Ministry of Urban Development & Defence submitted a Cabinet paper on the Aruwakkalu sanitary landfill. The following month, Ministers approved a request to allocate funds from the 2015 Budget. A two-year contract was awarded to Dohwa Engineering Co.- a Korean consultancy firm- for a report on Waste transportation and the installation of an integrated Waste Management system.
With the change in Govt in 2015, the Dept of Wildlife wanted a fresh EIA to be done, as Gangewadiya (the exact site of the proposed landfill) was in the Wilpattu buffer zone. This is despite there being no legal bar to the construction of a dump-site in such an area.
“In January 2015, the Wildlife Dept informed the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), it cannot allow the project through at the selected site. That is when it was shelved. It is wrong to say this was due to inefficiency on the part of the Ministry,” Minister Ranawaka said.
“We started the project and Cabinet approved funds, but the project was cancelled after the Dept of Wildlife said “No” to it and the EIA failed,” he elaborated. “If we got approval, we would have gone ahead with the project. This is why the money was not spent.”
In March 2016, it was decided to shift the site of the proposed landfill. But fresh issues arose. Plans to load garbage to trucks, from Meethotamulla, had to be abandoned after the collapse of that dump. There was no space and another location had to be found.
Cabinet granted approval for the project in April 2017. “We requested permission to locate the sanitary landfill in Aruwakkalu,” the Minister said. “Meethotamulla had collapsed by then. So we went with a proposal to rehabilitate Meethotamulla, to provide a temporary solution to the garbage crisis in Colombo and also to generate electricity through garbage.”
“We had all these plans with us,” he said. “But where are we now? There were rumours that we have not done a proper EIA. This is a lie. The CEA together with the Provincial Environment Authority did an EIA. We have finished the engineering plan for the project in parallel.”
Tenders were called in May 2017, while the EIA was in progress. “This was done with unprecedented speed,” the Minister said. “We gave the EIA to the CEA in August 2017. The CEA has opened it to the public now. We will get a reply from the CEA in mid November, along with conditions we have to adhere to.”
Meanwhile, 7 international bidders have responded to the tender. One was chosen according to tender procedure. The unsuccessful parties have gone to the Procurement Appeals Board. Its decision is pending.
Social awareness programmes are ongoing. Discussions have been held with community leaders, particularly the Catholic community. Other religious leaders, politicians and NGOs were also educated. Their proposals were accepted.