During a monthly meeting of the Belize City Council at the YWCA tonight, Solid Waste Management Authority (SWaMA) personnel disclosed details of the tariff structure that will be implemented once the solid waste management system comes into full effect at the beginning of the second half of 2013. The ordinary fee (for residential users) which will be rounded off from $12.67 to $13.00 per household per month is a full $3 above the City Council’s proposed residential garbage fee.

There will, however, be a social rate ($3.00 per household per month) for those households that cannot afford to pay the ordinary rate. Those households may be initially determined by using BWS’ selection of customers who are already paying a social tariff.

The multi-million-dollar project was announced in April of 2010, and consists of a network of transfer stations replacing dumpsites across what is called the Western Corridor which includes San Pedro, Caye Caulker, Belize City, the Twin Towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena and Benque Viejo (to whom the same fee structure would apply); and the construction of a state-of-the-art landfill facility between Miles 23 and 24 on the George Price Highway.

The landfill facility, which consists of two 5-acre cells, will be able to receive different types of garbage, including hazardous and electronic waste, white goods and recyclables, for more than 30 years.

According to a 2011 Waste Generation Study by German Consulting Firm HydroPlan, in Belize City, the average household generation rate is 1.7 pounds per person daily. Taking into account the average waste generated by businesses and institutions, the amount of waste generated in Belize City is about 85 tons per day.

With that amount of garbage generation and no proper landfill facility, there were public health and environmental concerns, particularly about what is known as leachate or garbage dump liquids which drain into surface and ground water, polluting it and clogging drains, leading to stagnant water and mosquito breeding sites. The landfill will act as a prevention and containment system for vector and waterborne diseases. It therefore includes 5 wells to monitor the water quality.

Additionally, nuisances such as odors, flies, visual contamination and dumpsite fires should be a thing of the past with the transfer stations and landfill system that has also taken into consideration the livelihood of “waste pickers” or “environmental engineers.” As part of resource management, apart from being able to continue recovering material from the transfer stations, some of those individuals will be hired to assist with recycling under improved occupational health and safety standards.

Because of the improved garbage disposal system, Gilroy Lewis, SWaMA Project Director says the public must understand that there is a cost to protect the environment and to keep it clean, and that we all have a responsibility to assume those costs. However, the question remains whether consumers will be willing to pay to ensure the financial sustainability of the project by covering the operational costs of the facilities.

According to a Willingness to Pay Survey conducted by HydroPlan (2011), 19 percent of those surveyed feel that it is the household’s responsibility to pay for garbage disposal, but 42 percent of people interviewed feel that it is their city council, municipal board or central government that should cover the garbage disposal cost.

Lewis said “in other municipalities, those who recognize that the household should pay are quite higher. In the Cayes, San Pedro and Caye Caulker and even in San Ignacio, there is more awareness that the responsibility for solid waste management generated by the individual is the responsibility of the individual. Here in Belize City, for some reason, it is quite different.”

In the final phases of the project, SWaMA will close dumpsites and construct transfer stations in San Pedro, Caye Caulker, and San Ignacio/Santa Elena.

The Solid Waste Management Project was embarked on with over US$14.5 million dollars in financing from the International Development Bank and the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Government of Belize.

Lewis said that Government, which is taking over the capital investment costs of the project, will be able to replicate the project in the Southern and Northern Corridors.