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| Wednesday, 8 December 2004 |
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Managing waste - look for simple solutions
The government recently squeezed several millions out of its coffers to fight dengue, as the dreaded urban plague looked set to resurge after the recent bouts of rain. Treating dengue, as we all know or have experienced in some way, is a difficult and expensive task. Dengue control hinges upon controlling the breeding sites of the aedes mosquito- which prefers clean, collected water. The health ministry and municipalities have been promoting the need for well-kept gardens and a clean environment in order to evict the mosquito. But as long as the country keeps throwing solid waste in to open dumps, we shall never be totally free of aedes, even if all the country's citizens diligently cleaned up their yards and homes and public places. The dengue mosquito finds convenient breeding places in the discarded trash that goes out of our homes, offices, markets and such. Even though the municipality may come around checking homes for possible mosquito breeding places and spray insecticide on people's lawns and shrubs, no such vector control is exercised on garbage dumps. These dumps breed not just dengue but hosts of many other diseases. Dengue was virtually unheard of ten years ago when urban congestion and waste disposal were not huge issues as they are today. The rise of the disease coincides directly with the rise of urbanization and all its inherent ills. Solid waste management is one of Sri Lanka's gravest environmental problems. There is no question or debate over that. The authorities recognize the problem and have repeatedly noted the same in reports on the state of the country's environment. There is even a written strategy on solid waste disposal formulated by the Ministry of Environment. There has been public interest litigation to force municipalities to enforce some form of waste management in areas of their jurisdiction. But do we see a great deal of improvement in the methods of management? The answer would be unanimously negative. Roadside open dumps are all too common. Littering is still a national habit and large municipal dumps still pollute waterways, marshlands and spoil the scenic beauty of many a tourist destination. One of the often touted excuses for the lethargy on the part of local authorities is No Money. Being cash strapped is not unusual for a local government institution in a third world country, but administrators have to be innovative. There are ways to improve solid waste collection and eliminate the practice of roadside dumping by simple education and change of practice. If the local authority has only a few vehicles to collect garbage, they can collect on alternate days. By informing the public earlier the day and time of collection, the municipality can reduce haphazard dumping on roadsides. This requires cooperation and involvement of the public to work smoothly. After all, the benefit of clean roadsides is a boon to the neighbourhood. In Their National Strategy for Solid Waste Management, the Ministry of Environment condemns open dumps and instructs that local authorities opt for sanitary land fills. Now, by definition, sanitary landfills are expensive projects that are fully engineered to prevent any pollution emanating from the garbage to leak to the soil, water and prevent vector breeding and scavenging. This kind of landfill, which is done in the west, is beyond the financial capability of all our local authorities- even the biggest of them, the CMC (Colombo Municipal Council). The better strategy perhaps would be to encourage other types of landfills in local areas that collect small quantities (less than 10 tonnes). Less cost options have to be looked at. Otherwise authorities would be more than happy to sit back and say that there is no money to implement sanitary landfills and therefore they have to continue with open dumps. Garbage sorting has been a much-talked about but little implemented programme in Sri Lanka. There is an urgently needed step- to separate wet organic-type waste from paper, glass and plastic so that management and disposal is easier. As in most South Asian countries the volume of organic waste is very high in Sri Lanka- as much as 80%. If this is separated it can be composted fully and used as a soil conditioner while the rest of waste can be buried or burnt according to each local authorities capability. It would also make sense in areas with little space to spare, or little garbage generated for local bodies to share dumping grounds. But there has been a consistent unwillingness on the part of different local authorities to cooperate on this issue. This is an extremely short sighted view especially in a small country with high population density. It is important to remember that the environment does not respect administrative boundaries. |
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Produced by Lake House |
by Tharuka Dissanaike
