SHILLONG: A section of villagers from Umlaiteng village under Mawhati constituency in Ri-Bhoi has opposed the move of the government to use land in the village as dumping ground.
Addressing the press here on Monday, Pateng Marsing from Poor People’s Movement, Ri-Bhoi, said the said land belongs to Herbert Wilson Trevor Syiem.
Stating that no consultation was held with the people before the government proposed the dumping ground plan, Marsing said, “No public hearing has been organised. We will lodge a complaint with Urban Affairs Minister Hamletson Dohling. We will not allow the government to shift the dumping ground to Umlaiteng.”
The president of Seng Longkmie, Phillin Dorphang, opposed the government plan and said that the proposed dumping ground site includes agricultural land.
Interestingly, the headman of Mawdiengngan, a village carved out of Umlaiteng, has issued No Objection Certificate (NOC) for setting up of the garbage disposal site.
Marsing also showed a letter from the Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner to the president/secretary of Seng Longkmie, Dorbar Umlaiteng, relating to the acquisition of land for setting up of the Municipal or MUDA dumping ground.
The letter mentions that the office of the Deputy Commissioner has received an application from Manosha Warjri (who holds the Power of Attorney of Herbert Wilson Trevor Syiem) seeking NOC for the sale of land at Mawdiengngan village, Ri-Bhoi District for an area measuring about 5000 acres to the MUDA for the purpose of converting it as a place for garbage disposal.
However, Syiem wrote a letter on July 27, 2018 and informed the Deputy Commissioner’s office that he was not interested in offering his land for the said purpose and added that he had also withdrawn the power of attorney given to Warjri.
The state government is on the job to identify other sanitary landfill sites considering that the Marten dumping ground at Mawlai Mawiong will be full in a few years.
