• From waste management to mismanaged landfill

By Sarah Hannan The Karadiyana Waste Management Project seems to have turned into a case of a mismanaged landfill while new residents are occupying the area that was deemed risky for people to live in by the authorities. In the early months of 2019, when the Karadiyana garbage site was becoming dangerously steep and reaching a similar height of the Meethotamulla garbage mountain, indicating signs of collapse, the area residents were asked to evacuate by the officials from the Kesbewa Divisional Secretariat. In early 2019, the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) issued a report highlighting the precarious situation of the landfill and the danger of a possible collapse if garbage disposal continues at this site at the current rate. The report highlighted that the situation was dangerous (due to the steepness of the slopes, the geophysical characteristics of the landfill, and its potential for gas collection and explosion) and then set out the possible consequences along with a set of recommendations to the Waste Management Authority that can lead to the full closure of the largest landfill in the Colombo District. Displaced and homeless S. Dharmakeerthi, a former resident of Karadiyana Road, narrated how they came to live in the area before the Waste Management Project was implemented. With the dream of owning a land of his own and building a house with the little money he could set aside, Dharmakeerthi had purchase a plot of land for which he was paying Rs. 5,000 in instalments monthly. Their house was constructed with wood and zinc sheets as they could not afford to build a house with block masonry and spend on expensive roofing material. “At the time they warned us about the impending danger and asked us to move, I still had to settle about Rs. 100,000 for the plot of land I was living on. The officials walked from house to house in mid-April asking people to seek shelter at the Thumbowila Temple by nightfall,” he said. Dharmakeerthi and the other residents had constantly protested when the garbage started to come in once the Karadiyana Waste Management Project had commenced. However, all their protests had fallen on deaf ears and the garbage dump continued to rise in height daily with the planned waste-to-energy process, or the composting process, not commencing on time to reduce the garbage that was piling up. “When we bought our land, there was no garbage mountain there. Hundreds of tonnes of rubbish were brought in truckloads every day. Amid massive protests from the residents, the garbage continued to come through. Now we are asked to leave and they are questioning as to why we built houses amidst a garbage dump,” Dharmakeerthi recalled. The person who sold the land to Dharmakeerthi and many others who chose to live down Karadiyana Road had subsequently given the land to the Municipal Council to dump garbage. He said that even though neighbouring communities objected, the land owner did not heed their objections. With an imminent threat of a landslide at the Karadiyana garbage dump, 13 families that lived in the vicinity were relocated for six months in June 2019.

Kesbewa Urban Councillor Kalpa Thushantha Perera at the time, stated that the garbage dump in Karadiyana may turn into a situation similar to Meethotamulla in 2017. The families who were relocated were to be paid Rs. 25,000 per month by the Urban Council until they were allowed to return home. We followed up with Perera as to the plight of these relocated families. We were told that the families that held deeds for the houses were given a relocation compensation of up to Rs. 5 million.

“The subfamilies who were illegally occupying land and were living on leased properties without deeds were initially promised to be paid Rs. 25,000 per month to cover their housing rents. They were asked to find their own dwellings on rent and were promised to be compensated with about Rs. 500,000. if they get at least that, they will be able to sort out their housing,” Perera elaborated. The Sunday Morning learnt that initially, the site was used by the Kesbewa Municipal Council to dump garbage. Later, the municipal councils of Kotte, Moratuwa, Homagama, and Kaduwela too were using this site to dump their garbage. While the people have been protesting that the garbage dump should be moved, and have spoken to various state authorities and taken the private company and the Municipal Council to courts, the exercise had been fruitless, since the local area politicians were siding with the company and the group that manages this project. This had allowed the garbage to pile up at the Karadiyana wetland. New occupants Dr. Ajantha Perera, a well-known environmentalist and scientist, who is also nicknamed the “Garbage Queen” of Sri Lanka, has for years voiced her concerns about the mismanaged garbage issue of the country. She had also assisted the then Government to draft the National Policy in Waste Management. During a recent visit to Karadiyana, Dr. Perera had found out that new occupants had moved into the area where the previous residents lived prior to temporarily being relocated due to dangers of the garbage mountain collapsing, last year.

“When I visited the site recently, the families who are now occupying the area informed me that they used to live down the railway line in Angulana and the Moratuwa Municipal Council had arranged their relocations down Karadiyana Road. It seems as if they do not mind living next to a dump, as long as they are given a plot of land to set up even a makeshift hut to live in,” Dr. Perera elaborated.

We asked Urban Councillor Perera about this incident, to which he responded:

“If people are being relocated and are allowed to settle in the already dangerous garbage site, it does not look good. The Kesbewa Urban Council is not aware of any such relocation and would not permit anyone to live near the zones that were already identified as areas of risk.”

What was supposed to be a waste management project has now turned in to a mismanaged landfill, with the leakage of the piled-up garbage finding its way to the Weras River, through the canal, and as such, whoever uses the water that is flowing from the Weras River will be consuming polluted water. “The people in the area too have now found a way to make money from this landfill. Before the garbage is brought to the landfill it goes through a weigh bridge. In 1993, a metric tonne of waste that would be disposed at a garbage collection site was priced at Rs. 500. A daily volume of 15,000 metric tonnes of waste is brought to Karadiyana and the people managing the project must by now be earning a hefty sum,” Dr. Ajantha Perera noted. She further revealed that the sum charged to dump garbage is then distributed among area politicians, local authorities, and state officials who are overseeing the project. Since there is an incentive for everyone, they do not want to get rid of it. Out of the total garbage collected, only 1% is recycled and composted. Dr. Perera is looking to reduce the amount of garbage that is brought to the Karadiyana site from various municipalities. She said: “I have met with the local authorities and have suggested that they come up with their own composting and recycling project that can be operated within their administrative regions. I have asked them to encourage the citizens to start their own home compositing projects which can benefit their home gardening projects that they have started these days.” Financial situation unfavourable Western Province Waste Management Authority (WMA) Executive Director Nalin Mannaperuma, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said that since the deadlines on commencing the Karadiyana Waste to Energy Project had passed, the private company was now facing difficulties in footing the cost involved. “The WMA finished signing the PPA (power purchase agreement) only towards the end of 2019. Due to the delay in commencing the operational work, the private company is facing a huge financial burden to start the work. If all went according to plan, the project would have commenced in December 2019 and by now, the open dumping of garbage would have stopped,” Mannaperuma added. However, with the project work on hold, open dumping continues and the WMA is unable to stop it. However, the authority recognises that the mounting garbage has environmental and health implications. Therefore, the authority is looking at taking the necessary measures to manage the garbage being dumped at Karadiyana. “It is not a decision that can be made from the state authorities alone, as discussions need to be carried out with the participation of all stakeholders responsible.” Mannaperuma noted. Project timeline

• In 2012, a Korean company proposed upgrading the Karadiyana garbage dumping ground to establish a power generation plant using garbage. The plant, costing $ 250 million, was expected to use 1,000 tonnes of garbage a day, and generate 40 MW of power to the national grid, with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) agreeing to purchase the power. But the project was not implemented.
• Another PPA was signed with Fairway Holdings for a waste treatment plant in Karadiyana, where 500 MT of waste were to be processed into energy. The project commenced in August 2017. The project, with an investment of $ 91 million, was to add 10 MW of electricity to the national grid. The Government was to buy power generated from the plants at a tariff of Rs. 35.10 per unit, which would increase later.
• By July 2019, the Karadiyana Waste Management Project by Fairway Holdings was expected to accept a limited quantity of garbage with a full 500 tonnes/day, which was to be processed by November 2019. The developer obtained a loan of $ 6.7 million from the World Bank (WB) through the bank's private financing arm, the International Finance Corporation.
• To get the WB’s acceptance, the project had to meet the most stringent environmental, social, and health requirements. The Karadiyana Project was to have the most advanced waste processing technology with integrated biological and thermophysical treatment.
• The project was suspended due to issues raised by the CEB, followed by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy, and the Treasury. At this point, the developer had spent a sum of Rs. 1,312 million on the project over engineering design, site preparation, advance payments, and civil works (completing 90% of the piling work), but was forced to stop work and demobilise from the site.
• In August 2019, then Megapolis and Western Development Ministry Secretary Nihal Rupasinghe stated that a number of projects were given the Cabinet green light shortly after the Meethotamulla disaster, to convert waste into energy.
• But the Government had subsequently realised that this resulted in higher generation costs, which would have to be shouldered by the Government, and as such, the Cabinet decided to not approve any future waste-to-energy projects.
• Generating power from garbage could incur an additional cost of Rs. 3,000 for a tonne of waste. Thus with 1,500 tonnes a day, the additional daily cost would be Rs. 4.5 million or Rs. 1.64 billion a year.
• The Karadiyana project was expected to commence operations by July 2019, and the other two contractors in 2020; three projects consuming 1,500 tonnes of garbage, or practically the entire garbage output from Colombo and suburbs, ruling out the need to move Colombo’s garbage to Aruwakkalu, making the transfer station and railway equipment unnecessary, and saving foreign loans.
• Garbage disposal could be achieved by converting sorted vegetable matter to compost, as done in Karadiyana, and unsorted, plastics, etc. being burnt for power generation. Regions producing over 500 tonnes can have power generation units, lesser areas can convert garbage to compost, especially near agricultural areas, and plastics could be buried.