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Foreign Experts Help Curb Health Hazards In Sungai Akar Dumpsite
By Sobrina Rosli

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei-Muara's main dumpsite in Sungai Akar has posed dangers to both the environment and the health of the community, prompting the Ministry of Development to hire local and foreign consultants for better garbage management in the country.

Garbage dumped at Sungai Akar was improperly managed and now , produces dangerous gases, including methane, an officer at the environmental pollution control division of the Ministry of Development said yesterday.

He said methane is not toxic but it poses an immediate health hazard. The gas, for example, could burn if ignited.

"It is highly flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air," said the official, who declined to be named. "This is a risk that can happen during dry seasons."

Local residents and occupants' of buildings near the Sungai Akar dumpsite are at risk of being exposed to a significant level of methane, which can penetrate building interiors.

Furthermore, the official said, the gases produced at the site, such as methane and carbon dioxide, oxide, could contribute to global warming.

The emission of these gases into the environment affects' climate sensitivity and contributes to the rise of global temperature, which in turn causes other changes in the amounts and patterns of precipitation, as well as a rising sea level.

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In trying to overcome the problems, the Ministry of Development has hired local and foreign consultants to formulate a more efficient solid waste management system, the officer from the environmental pollution control division said.

"They have been doing their study for over a year and are expected to come up with a conclusion early next year," he said. The planned system, which will involve a technology for solid waste management in an engineered landfill, is expected to help lessen the hazards produced from waste.

This type of landfill usually has physical barriers such as liners and leachate collection systems, and procedures to protect the public from exposure, according to the Wikipedia, an internet encyclopedia.

Similar landfills have already been constructed in neighbouring countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, the official said. Pulau $emakau is Singapore's only landfill situated offshore among the southern islands of Singapore.

It is filled mainly with inert' ash produced by Singapore's four incineration plants, which burn the country's waste which is shipped there in a covered barge (to prevent the ash from getting blown into the air) every night.

The care put into the design and operational work at the landfill has ensured that the site is clean and free from smell.

"We are also looking for a possibility to adopt a disposal system made specifically for hazardous materials in the future as we have none in Brunei yet," the environmental officer said.

According to the official, hazardous waste in Brunei, which mostly come from oil companies shipped shipped to Germany and the United Kingdom.

Brunei, as a signatory of the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste, is allowed to dispose, hazardous waste through such mechanism.

"To reduce hazards, we would also like to encourage the public to implement the 3R's, which stands for Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, before disposing their rubbish," he said.

He said they could segregate their rubbish and send different waste materials to relevant recycling companies, such as paper producers. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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