Privatized trash disposal operations planned

The CNMI Task Force on Solid Waste is planning to privatize part of the operation of the future Marpi depression landfill facility in order to stir employment opportunities for the community, according to Lt. Gov. Jesus R. Sablan.

Sablan, who heads the task force, said he will propose to the committee the privatization of trash collection and transportation of garbage from pick-up station up to the landfill to help create employment at a time when jobs are getting scarce because of the economic slump.

Construction of the Marpi landfill is to begin either January or February next year, Sablan said, and will be operational by the end of 1999, paving the way for the closure of the 20-hectare Puerto Rico dump site – one of the campaign promises of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio.

Due to the environmental hazard it poses to the community, Tenorio pledged to shut down Puerto Rico dump, which was used as a disposal site for military hardware, ordnance and other hazardous material during World War II.

Dumping of garbage in Puerto Rico dump has worsened because of the transfer of dredged materials from Saipan Harbor by the Commonwealth Ports Authority, a project aimed at making the harbor competitive in the region. More than 200,000 ft. yards are yet to be dredged by CPA to achieve minus 40 feet which is expected to produce a total of 1.3 million cubic yards of materials.

Past administrations had attempted to close down the island’s only dumping ground for residential and commercial refuse but failed because of lack of funds and alternative site.

Former governor Froilan C. Tenorio had spent $1 million for the engineering design of the Marpi landfill, which was scrapped by the task force because it did not meet the specifications of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Five companies have been shortlisted to design the Marpi sanitary landfill but a decision has yet to be made by the task force. Aside from a depression facility, the design should also accommodate an incinerator system to extend the life span of the new garbage site.

The Office of Insular Affairs has earlier agreed to provide funding for the hiring of a program manager for the solid waste program of the Northern Marianas whose task is to develop and implement an integrated solid waste management plan.