I listened a bit to the rhetoric at parliament regarding our handling of waste.
There were shocking revelations.
The current minister of the environment was criticized for being nine months on the job with no significant changes / improvements in the process of waste treatment.
The former-former Prime Minister boasted how green his term in office was, how inspired and insightful, just wunderbar. He neglected to also mention he left all his bills unpaid.
(If Mike Eman doesn’t vacate his seat, there will be no succession, and his lifeless party, will never resurrect.)
Anyway, his is what I learned:
The incinerator was expensive, Awg 1.8 million. It was bought by GOA, in 2018. It is operated by Caribbean Trucking a company which was hand-picked and favored for the lucrative job by the former-former minister of infrastructure who is now in jail. That company was granted a five-year contract to operate the incinerator, worth more than Awg 7.5 million. Their KVK registration defines them as a car parts and accessories dealership, no mention of incineration.
Caribbean Trucking assumed no liability and the Director of DOW signed the contract. Incidentally, the permit to Operate a Nuisance, is held by DOW.
The incinerator was supposed to handle the proper combustion of medical waste, cadavers, construction left-overs and most importantly sludge from Bubali Plas.
Apparently, this only works partially, because the incinerator doesn’t handle wet sludge. Besides, it emits a terrible stench and belches toxic smoke. Most probably sulfur, judging from the yellow stain on its room, meaning the filters are not functioning properly. Probably also heavy metals, lime and mercury.
The structure housing the incinerator is situated in the wrong area, according to the ROPV. It’s too close to the airport. That approved master plan states it should have been built elsewhere, and the case against its location, is in court.
The recent incident of a plane colliding with a flock of birds might have been inspired by Parkietenbos, since the birds favor the sludge, and the incinerator is just there, in violation of international agreements which attempt to place distance between flocks of birds, airplane propellers and mountains of delicious sludge.
Good news? 80% of our waste is handled by EcoTech. They shake it, sort, blow, and squeeze it, removing cardboard, metal, and aluminum to reduce it to environbales, which are then nicely buried.
For a while Caribbean Trucking had the contract for the burial, at Seroe Teishi. But as the stacked bales farted gases continuously, EcoGas was called to take the job over, and do it properly, with gas pipes and liners. Still Caribbean Trucking got paid Awg 372,886.07 for doing a shoddy job.
Remember the talk a while ago? Caribbean Trucking cut too many corners, breaching its contract, and when EcoGas was brought in, it had to also be paid, to fix it
At present Caribbean Trucking is not charged with maintenance of the incinerator, yet it receives Awg 1.56 million a year for its operation.
And its employees represent a hefty salary burden. Had Serlimar employees been doing the job, it would have cost us less.
From what I read, operating the incinerator requires no expertise, it is a simple set of tasks.
Takeaway: Our resources are being squandered every day.
Politics and waste-management is a match made in hell.
