New landfill will not harm environment

A NEW Sungai Paku Engineered Landfill, to be tendered in June, is scheduled for completion by 2011, to equip the Sultanate with its own energy-efficient waste management system.

Located in the Tutong District, Simon Tsen informed the media that construction of the environmentally-friendly engineered landfill is expected to begin by the third quarter of 2009 and is expected to last for about three years.

The Executive Engineer of Infrastructure Development for the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) said that the cost of the project was unfortunately still unknown as they had yet to carry out the tendering process.

During his presentation yesterday at the Sungai Akar Landfill Site, Tsen said that the new engineered landfill will be designed and operated without incurring damage or harm to the environment. The engineered landfill will incorporate the use of clay liners to cover fresh rubbish dumping grounds to help contain and prevent leachate (liquid draining from landfills caused by precipitation seeping through waste deposited in landfills) from infiltrating into the ground water.

"Once the liners have been laid out, the rubbish will be deposited, levelled and compacted before being covered and turfed," said Tsen. The remaining leachate will then be drained by pipes to the appropriate treatment facilities before being discharged.

Septic sludge treatment facilities have also been proposed to be constructed on the site as current methods of dealing with septic and kitchen waste were unsatisfactory and hazardous to the environment.

"There were several operators who were discharging their septic wastes into natural water courses at the site (Sungai Akar Landfill). This was something that was only known recently," said the executive engineer. "As a result, we will be providing such treatment facilities under this new package to address this problem," he explained.

Feasibilities studies to determine both the commercial and economical value of other methods of waste disposal such as the use of waste to energy converters or incinerators will be carried out in the near future. It was also revealed that the Sungai Paku Engineered Landfill will be designated as the regional landfill upon completion. Current existing landfills in the country will eventually be closed down and replaced by transfer stations, strategically located all across the country.

"These transfer stations will help to reduce travel time for collection vehicles, helping to improve collection efficiencies while also reducing traffic load," said the executive engineer. "It will also be a convenient drop off point for the public as well as an opportunity to incorporate a recycling centre, in addition to enhance the country's image in the area of waste management," he added.

Tsen also informed The Brunei Times that the new landfill will be constructed on the sand burrow area of Sungai Paku. "It is like a desert there, so we will be putting the area to good use."The Brunei Times