Work on the new Tongatapu land-fill Rubbish Dump, officially started on June 15 with the signing of $460,000 working contract by John Gildea for the Solid Waste Management Project and Sione Tafolo of the Tafolo Quarry.

Tafolo Quarry would be responsible for the clearing of the vacated Tapuhia Quarry near the village of Vaini in central Tongatapu. John said that under the contractthsi would include clearing and levelling of the base of the quarry, in preparation for the laying of a 'safety blanket'. The 'safety blanket' made out of layers of synthetic materials would cover the whole surface of the 19 meters deep quarry- an area that is the equivalent of three football fields.

In addition to the safety blanket there would be additional layers of clays and a layer of four-inch gravel to prevent any pollutants from permeating into the Tongatapu fresh water table, which because of unsupervised quarrying was only a few meters away.

Tafolo Quarry is expected to start working at the site on June 28 and to complete the work by October 28 in time for the opening of the dump in November.

The Tafolo Quarry contract was the largest contract that the Solid Waste Management Project had signed with a local company and Sione Tafolo said that his company was very pleased to have got the contract and to get involved in a project, which would change the Tongans attitude toward their rubbish for the best.

The $AUD10 million Solid Waste Management Project is jointly funded by the Governments of Australia and Tonga. The Australian contribution is $AUD8.5m and Tonga is providing the balance.

The project is not merely to provide a new land-filled rubbish dump for Tongatapu, but to also to educate the community to be responsible for their waste.

John said that green rubbish would not be allowed into the dump, and to find a solution to that problem, there has been a project and a handbook on how to make home compost. John also said that under the project they have bought some tree cutting equipment for some people who would like to set up a commercial venture, making compost.

John had also indentified what he called problem products which would not be allowed into the dump, such as old oil, motor vehicle bodies and old batteries. Plastic products such as diapers and plastic bags would be buried in the land-fill.

The most intriguing nature of this new land-fill rubbish dump was that any liquid waste would not be allowed to permeate through the layers of clay and the 'Safety Blanket'. There would be a water pumping system to pump up liquid waste to be purified and use for other purposes. The Tapuhia land-filled rubbish Dump is expected to serve Tonga for 35 years.