Marpi landfill to break ground in June

After what seemed like an eternity, the Marpi sanitary landfill will finally begin construction in June and is envisioned to be operational a year later.

Speaking before the Saipan Chamber of Commerce’s general membership meeting yesterday at Gilligan’s in Hyatt, Division of Solid Waste Director John Harder said his office is expected to narrow down the six prospective bidders for the project in a week’s time.

The company selected will be offered an intent-to-award by DSW, according to Mr. Harder.

“We are really involved in fast-tracking the new sanitary landfill facility. This is now our biggest priority and a large chunk of DSW resources is being spent on it,” Mr. Harder said.

The lowest submitted bid according to the DSW director, is $9 million. He said DSW is leaning towards awarding the contract to the $9-million bid but it is still looking at the firm’s credentials whether it can truly follow through on the project.

Aside from the Marpi landfill project, Mr. Harder also disclosed that it has awarded Mayeda Construction a preliminary contract to build the transfer station of the landfill project. He said the company bested six other contractors for the $4.2 million deal.

Mayeda Construction will start building the transfer station in May 2001.

The whole Marpi sanitary landfill project is estimated to cost between $25 million and $26 million. This includes the construction of waste to energy incinerators, which range between $5 to $6 million, architectural and design phase, $3 million and an undisclosed amount to be paid to a construction management team and a consultant to manage the whole operation.

Aside from selecting the winning bids for the construction of the Marpi landfill project and the transfer station, the DSW director also disclosed that his office has just wrapped up the architectural and engineering phase of the project.

The A&E phase, according to him, involved a lot of planning on the part of DSW. “We had to do a lot of waste assessment, develop conceptual plans and cost-effective analysis,” Mr. Harder said.

The whole process hammered out is what the DSW now calls the Saipan Integrated Solid Management Plan. The said plan includes the Marpi sanitary landfill as well as the transfer station.

With the Marpi sanitary landfill up and about in a year’s time, the DSW then would be better positioned to address the issue of closing down the Puerto Rico open dumpsite.

The Puerto Rico dumpsite has been serving the island’s community for generations now. The more than 50-year old dumpsite is said to have gone beyond its carrying capacity and is said to pose a threat to the surrounding environment.

According to Mr. Harder the Puerto Rico dumpsite has over 500,000 tons of trash accumulated throughout the decades. With Saipan discharging up to 60 to 70 tons of garbage a year, time would only tell when the dumpsite would start seeping waste into the immediate area.

The first phase of the Marpi sanitary landfill has a capacity of 1 million tons of garbage and once its second phase is completed, it could accommodate another 600,000 tons of waste.