Report By DOREEN NAWA
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| Some hip of garbage with Lusaka City |
The natural beauty of townships and central business
districts of cities in Zambia has been spoilt over the years by increasing
amounts of garbage. Lusaka, for example, once Zambia's "City of
Peace", is now known to many as the "stinking city in the garbage".
Across the country, beautiful cities and towns such as
the tourist capital, Livingstone, and Copperbelt towns Ndola and Kitwe are not
as clean as they used to be. Yet the situation can be changed. Countrywide the
local authorities have made great steps in cleaning up the city by implementing
the "Make Zambia Clean' campaign which is thought to have had an answer to
the seemingly impossible garbage crisis. But no positive yield yet.
Even with legislation in place, indiscriminate disposal
of waste has continued to deface the beauty of Zambia's major cities.
In Lusaka, the Lusaka City Council (LCC) has highly
structured legislation on waste management, the waste management by-laws of
2004, but all to no avail. Under this legislation, the city council has
arrested and charged a number of offenders.
However, the LCC admits that the arrests and subsequent
charging of offenders has not changed anything as there has not been any
significant change of attitudes amongst the offenders.
"The challenge we have is that most offenders are
able to pay the K450, 000 slapped on them for indiscriminate disposal of waste.
"We would rather see that people serve the three
months simple imprisonment because K450, 000 is too little a fine in comparison
to the damage done to the environment," says LCC public relations manager
Chanda Makanta.
Considering the vastness of Lusaka and other cities,
proper disposing and management of waste is a challenge. In order to address
the inadequate capacity, various councils have engaged private companies to
help in waste collection.
"The LCC through the Waste Management Unit (WMU) has
engaged contract franchisers to collect waste on its behalf. When residents in
that area subscribe to LCC, the engaged companies will collect waste from their
residence on behalf of LCC. We therefore appeal to the public to help the
council to keep our environment clean by ensuring that they subscribe directly
to LCC's Waste Management Unit," says Mrs. Makanta.
In Lusaka's Kaunda Square, Kamwala South, Kalingalinga,
Misisi and other townships, some abandoned or semi-finished structures have
been turned into dumping sites.
Without a doubt waste management remains a challenge all
over the country, particularly in the townships.
"I pay wheelbarrow pushers to dispose of my
household waste because they are affordable and always available. I have no
idea of the last destination to the waste I generate. My business ends at
paying this guy a K5, 000 to K10, 000 to dump the waste to wherever. As long as
it is out of my sight, then I am home and dry," says Kalinda Zulu of
Lusaka's Kaunda Square Stage One area.
While it is important to educate the public about the
dangers of indiscriminate disposal of waste with a view to changing attitudes,
it is also important to acknowledge that the change of mindsets can take a
while by which time the damage done to the environment may be too shocking to
contemplate.
In a bid to deal with experienced in household waste
removal, commitment should be put in ensuring that the destination of the waste
generated is known.
"I know that the LCC has engaged private waste
collectors but it is not for free and since I cannot afford the required amount
I have decided to dig a rubbish pit behind my house and I have no worries. Each
household pays between K15, 000 to K20, 000 and this is too much for me,"
says Grace Ziwa of Lusaka's Kamwala South area.
It is also worrying to see lots of illegal waste
collection companies that have mushroomed lately that also dump waste
indiscriminately thereby posing a danger to humans and the environment.
But just how best could the challenges of waste
management and disposal is dealt with?
During rainy season, the drainage system in Lusaka and
many other cities is blocked due to uncollected garbage. This in turn will
result into floods.
According to Kennedy Chirwa, the challenges of waste
management and failure to generate enough income to manage the waste is as a
result of lack of proper planning.
Mr Chirwa, of Lusaka's Avondale Township, says, "I
think there is need for proper planning, look at how people are paying for TV
licence, water and electricity, if they can pay for these services, it's
possible too to pay for the collection of garbage.
All what is needed is for stakeholders to plan just like
other service providers such as Zesco and water utility companies. If a
collection fee like TV levy is properly structured, people will pay. It is just
common sense that everyone should also be able to pay for the waste they
generate.
Without doubt the issue of garbage collection will remain
a thorny one unless drastic measures are put in place to address it and failure
to address this challenge will create not only an eyesore but also an
environmental problem.
Most waste produces carbon dioxide and methane among
other gases that are harmful to the environment.
The issue of waste management should be given the
seriousness it deserves for the simple reason that it poses great danger to
both humans and the environment.
Given the devastating effects of indiscriminate disposal
of waste to humans and the environment, the need to come up with practical and
effective measures aimed at curbing the trend cannot be overstressed.
Disposing of waste in an environmentally-friendly manner
is crucial and must be everyone's thought. Waste management is something every
person has to deal with.
However, what many do not think about is what happens
once their garbage is collected. It is not just about ensuring that garbage is
collected.
Waste management is everyone's business. You must take
the lead when it comes to waste and start putting more thought into what
happens after your trash leaves your house.
Zambia needs to come up with a holistic and sustainable
solid waste management system that will result in the efficient disposal of
garbage.
The country has been experiencing the problem of proper
management of solid waste, a situation that has resulted in drainages being
clogged by, creating floods during the rainy season and waterborne disease such
as cholera and typhoid.
In order to address this challenge, waste management has
to be looked at as everyone's business.
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