The waste treatment process at Aruwakkalu solid waste management facility is to be commissioned in February, a senior project officer said yesterday.
But the transfer of waste to the facility by train would take another six months, that is after completion of the construction of the waste transfer station in Kelaniya.
Two Chinese power sets comprising four engines for the Aruwakkalu Sanitary Landfill Project arrived at the Colombo Harbour on Thursday (2). Once the transit point is completed, the two trains will make one trip each to Aruwakkalu taking the day’s collection of solid waste from the Colombo Metro area and the suburbs.
The trains will be operated in the night to avoid disruption to day time traffic on the tracks, the official said.
The collection of garbage from the city and the suburbs will be done throughout the day but the transfer to Aruwakkalu by the train will be done at night time, he added.According to the Western Region Solid Waste Management Project the daily collection of waste in the Colombo Metro area is about 550 metric tonnes. The trains will have the capacity to transfer 1,200 MT of solid waste in a single trip, together.