කොළඹ දිනපතාම කුණු මෙටි්රක් ටොන් 800 ක් බැහැර කිරීමට තැනක් නැති වීම ගැටලුවක් No place to dispose garbage in Colombo
Posted on October 3rd, 2016
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
It is sad that politicians and technocrats turn blind eye when I proposed to send the old garbage lying in Meetotamulle to Mutharajawela on to a 10 acre land and install a garbage baling plant to compress garbage .If it is not feasible I have another proposal
There are three barges lying in Trinco harbour ,imported by CEB which can carry 5000 ton each. These barges were given to CEB by Chinese company who never consulted local marine Engineers that these barges cannot transport coal from the large bulk carrier –ships to Norrochcholai Coal power plant as they are not self-propelled.
Barges have to be towed by a tug and they cannot be placed at a stationery position alongside of the bulk carrier anchored in the deep sea.During unloading most of the coal fall into the sea as the barge keep moving during unloading .
Now CEB has tied the barges in Trinco and left to rust after paying a colossal amount of money .We gave a proposal to CEB and offered to make them self-propelled ( means installing engines and propellers) so that they can be used ,CEB does not want it as the Indian Contractor who brought five barges which are self propelled and now carrying out the transportation of coal .
This contract managed by Ceylon Shipping Corporation is also concluded with some involvement of some higher ups in previous regime so that a kick back is accommodated ( as rumour say) .
CEB as usual full of electrical engineers who never listen to others as they think that they are the most wisest in Sri Lanka .
They should have obtained advise from Marine Engineers before they paid Chinese under the loan .
CEB called tenders and requested offers to buy the barges and we offered to modify but the GM of CEB was never interested .Then a shipping company offered 250,000 dollars each to buy them following a tender, but the CEB wise tender Board refused to sell claiming that it is worth more .Actually new barge would cost over 1.5 million Dollars
Then they hired a white man” to do a valuation paying colossal amount of money who gave a valuation of over 900,000 Dollars and CEB called tenders again .
This time offer was not even 75,000 Dollars which 1/3rd of the previous offer by the same local shipping company!
Now CEB is stranded and do not know what to do !
I suggest following ..
Barge is 80mx25mx 3,5m draft in loaded condition ( 5000 ton capacity) to be made self-propelled and anchor in Kelani River by the bank closer to Colombo where you install baling machine to bale ( means compress and make 1mx1m blocks) .And the two other barges can be loaded with baled garbage and transport them to Muthurajawela along the sea ,providing that the draft of the river is over 3 -4 meters and the bridges have the width to go underneath
Failing you build some smaller barges to carry the garbage
Over to Megapolis ……………..
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
October 3rd, 2016 at 8:03 am
Thanks Sarath.
October 4th, 2016 at 5:22 am
Why bother with suggestions when no one is interested in getting any thing done!
October 4th, 2016 at 2:05 pm
We miss Gota’s efficiency.
There was NOTHING that he could not GET DONE BRILLIANTLY!
Next to leading the Armed Forces in crushing the Tigers, his greatest accomplishment was in Urban Development and cleaning up the cities! And what a DIFFERENCE it make to the quality of life of people!
I have one suggestion about the garbage situation:
Don’t DUMP/BURY the garbage ….. it is a valuable profitable resource …. if a SUITABLE COLLECTION and PROCESSING SYSTEM is developed.
Instead of DUMPING, SORT & RECYCLE the valuable materials, create fertiliser and soil amendments for garden/farm use from the organic materials, and generate ENERGY from the rest through biodigestion and, as a last resort, burning to generate steam to drive turbo-generators.
Convert this PROBLEM into an ASSET! It is NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. It only needs Gota’s style of EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION and IMPLEMENTATION.
But in our infinite wisdom, we OUSTED the only government we had that knew HOW to get things done!
WOE TO US for there is NO CURE for STUPIDITY!
October 4th, 2016 at 3:11 pm
If there is money anything can be done to look efficient. How did Gota do it and from where he got the money?. Certainly it wasn’t CMC’s money and they were very happy when Gota did their job efficiently. Was it not the money SL borrowed from World Bank for another purpose: the Colombo Flood Prevention Project to be paid by future generations?.
October 5th, 2016 at 2:36 am
You cannot bail garbage since it is a putrefying material. If you try to bale garbage which is a putrefying material, it would create a huge heath hazard. The issue of solid waste management should be left to those who are experts on that subject since those who do not know about the subject will suggest completely inappropriate solutions which will create massive health hazards.
You cannot dump garbage in and around Muthurajawela since it is a wetland and a nature reserve and it is against the law to disturb a nature reserve in any way. Wetlands are disappearing fast and we should preserve whatever wetlands we have and Muthurajawela is an important wetland and it must have protected status as per Sri Lankan law and therefore garbage cannot be dumped near a wetland in this way.
About the garbage problem, the normal practice followed is to reduce the amount of garbage produced by following the P plus three R’s concept. This is prevent, reduce, reuse and recycle. Therefore, children and households should be educated as to how to prevent, reduce, reuse and recycle rubbish. Householders can be provided a compost bin and taught how to compost the organic part of the garbage. There can be separate collections of items such as tin, plastic, paper, cardboard, glass etc. which can then be recycled. In fact recycling bins can be installed in every town so people can bring items to be recycled and dispose of in the recycle bins. All these measures will reduce the final amount of garbage from households that needs to be disposed at a landfill site.
A designed land fill site can be used to disposed of garbage. Designed means using a liner to prevent leachate from the putrefying garbage entering the water table, and methane gas collection pipes installed to collect methane gas which is also produced when the garbage putrefies. On top, leachate should also be collected and treated in a wastewater treatment plant. As you can see, a designed landfill site is expensive to build. During the previous government’s time, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya landfill sites were semi-designed. An alternative is to install a number of incinerators and to produce energy using the waste to energy concept. However, this is also expensive and will produce greenhouse gases and toxic substances which as need to be disposed in a careful manner. For a tropical country, landfilling is best rather than incineration.
There was a plan to use a disused quarry site in Puttlam to dispose of garbage from the Colombo area. It is OK as long as the quarry floor is made impermeable using a liner so that leachate from the putrefying garbage does not reach the water table. Here a designed landfill will have to be built to treat the leachate and to collect the methane gas which will be produced. A wastewater treatment plant will also have to be built.
The best solution to the garbage problem in Colombo is to educate children from kindergarten level up the concept of prevent, reduce, reuse , recycle. Provide each householder with a composting bin to compost the organic part of the garbage and distribute leaflets educating the public as to how to compost the organic part of the garbage, have separate collections for recyclable material such as plastic, tin, paper, cardboard, glass by provision of coloured bins to each household to distinguish recyclable material from garbage to be disposed of at a landfill site. Finally provide each householder a separately coloured bin to collect that part of the garbage to be disposed at a landfill site.
Also in each town and village, install a number of large bins so that villagers can dispose of recyclable material such as plastic, tin, glass, paper and cardboard which should then be collected for recycling by the local council.