By Bisola Adeyemo
Residents in Lusaka, capital city of Zambia has expressed fear over the increased piles of uncollected waste in the city saying it could lead to the outbreak of water-borne diseases such as Cholera.
According to the latest report on the status of waste management in Lusaka, Lusaka people produces about 1,200 tonnes of waste every day.
Lusaka’s biggest waste disposal site, Chunga disposal dumpsite, only receives about 40 per cent of this waste daily.
Due to the increased number of street vendors in the Central Business District (CBD) of Lusaka City, the generation of organic waste has increased thereby making it very difficult for the local authority to manage.
A shop owner in the CBD, Mather Mungwala, said street vendors largely contribute to the increase of piles of garbage in the CBD.
“I have vendors outside my shop and I have seen them dump garbage on the road Islands. As shop owners, we pay a levy to Lusaka City Council for garbage collection and they do that on a daily basis,” Ms Mungwala said.
On the other hand, Naomi Mbewe, a resident of Misisi Township said she could not afford to pay garbage collection fees to Community Based Enterprise (CBE) which costs K50 per month.
“As a single and unemployed mother of two, I don’t have the luxury to pay people or a company to collect my garbage so I just dump it where there is a pile of rubbish and burn some if I can. I know what I am doing is wrong but what can I do if I can’t afford it? The Government should introduce free waste collection in Townships because not everyone can afford to pay. Free waste collection is the best way to clean the city,” Ms Mbewe said.
According to Lusaka City Council Public Health Director, Christopher Mtonga, says the local authority had strengthened health education and sensitization on good waste management practices with intensified inspections of premises in the CBD.
This is to ensure compliance with the solid waste management guidelines through both good practices and subscription to the franchise waste collection companies.
“The Chunga disposal site receives only about forty percent 40 percent of the waste daily, and this waste is collected and transported by the Lusaka City Council (LCC), franchise contractors, and those transporting their waste. The remainder is left in the environment to decompose or is burnt, with a small fraction going for recycling. The LCC collects and transports about seventy percent 70 percent of the waste disposed of at the landfill, while the remainder is handled by the private sector,” Mr. Mtonga said.