Costly dump fire - But tab lower than expected, says ODPEM

BY INGRID BROWN Observer Senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, February 13, 2012

TRUCKERS, operators of marl quarries and owners of heavy-duty equipment have already chalked up a bill of close to $23 million for goods and services provided to battle the massive blaze at the Riverton City landfill in St Andrew over the last three days.

Another $20 million, or thereabout, could be tacked onto the tab by the time the co-ordinating Government agencies extinguish the last smouldering embers of the fire which caused heavy smoke to blanket sections of the Corporate Area and St Catherine last week.

Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) Ronald Jackson told the Observer yesterday that $23 million - $25 million had already been committed for three days of operations, with at least 90 per cent of that going to truckers transporting marl from quarries and operators of heavy-duty equipment.

The remaining 10 per cent, he said, is associated with providing protective gear and food for workers, as well as fuel for state-owned vehicles being used in the operation.

"I cannot escape people benefiting, and so, while we are trying our best to contain costs, the public's health is very important in this matter," Jackson said. "We (ODPEM) had given a budgeted figure of $60 million for an eight-day operation as the worst-case [scenario] and if I have to spend that to ensure we put enough cover material so that we are comfortable and we don't have the problem recurring, that is something we have to do."

Last week, ODPEM reported that the fire would be out in 72 hours and the cooling down and cover-up activities would take another five days.

However, an elated Jackson said yesterday that the entire process could now take less than the projected time, keeping the agency operating well within the $60-million budget.

"The ground commander from fire services is reporting great success, and so we may not even get up to day seven," he said.

Jackson also noted that the $25 million already committed could have been much higher had it not been for the loan of some vehicles from other State agencies such as the National Works Agency (NWA) and the National Water Commission which reduced the number of rented vehicles.

According to Jackson, the Government will now begin to tabulate the specific hours that respective truckers and operators of heavy-duty equipment have worked, since they were not all contracted at the same time.

"What is happening at the site is that the tractors are logged in when they arrive for the first time, and the time of work is also logged, so we have to sit down and look at the hours of operation worked by each of these [pieces of] heavy equipment to count the current cost in relation to the budgeted cost," Jackson added.

Now that the 72-hour deadline for extinguishing the fire has been met, Jackson said the services of some of these operators will be suspended.

Additionally, Jackson said the National Solid Waste Management Authority is seeking to negotiate rates with the service providers, who are currently being paid at the standard NWA rates.

These rates see operators of heavy-duty equipment being paid between $15,000 and $20,000 per hour depending on the unit, and truckers being paid between $12,000 and $15,000 per load of marl.

Jackson said there are also some hidden costs such as overtime for Government workers, among them firefighters who worked long hours battling the blaze.

Meanwhile, Jackson advised that although the fire is out, the smoke will not dissipate immediately.

"The task now is to keep the area cool and covered, because a dump fire is something that can catch again quickly," Jackson said.

As for the environmental health aspect, he said communities in the vicinity of the Washington Boulevard, Ferry, Gregory Park and Waterford will continue to be exposed to poor air quality for a few more days.

The fact that these landfill fires tend to occur regularly, causing severe dislocation for schools and businesses had raised questions about the need for an evacuation plan for severely affected communities.

But Jackson said while the recommendation in these instances is for persons with respiratory complications to leave affected areas temporarily, it would be a logistical nightmare to evacuate the large number of residents who would be impacted.

"People would have to be moved out of town and it would require massive resources which we do not have," he said. "When you look at the budget, you have to look at cost-benefit analysis... it may require you to put enough resources to bring it under control within three to four days, rather than having to spend far more money to move people, find buildings and retrofit them, finding hotels, food to feed them and transportation cost."

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Costly dump fire - But tab lower than expected, says ODPEM