Tue, 09 Jan 2018 10:05:33 +0000
ZAMBIA Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) has deployed defence personnel to guard Chunga dumpsite and deter scavengers from foraging waste as an additional effort to intensify the fight against the cholera outbreak in Lusaka.
ZEMA manager for corporate affairs Irene Chipili said the decision had been taken in partnership with Lusaka City Council (LCC) to ensure all the waste collected from different parts of the city did not end up back into communities.
Ms. Chipili, who was speaking during the site visit, explained that the inter-ministerial committee on the fight against cholera was working hard to cleanup Lusaka and ensure most of the historical waste was cleared.
“We have been working closely with LCC to bring sanity and order to this facility. There are a number of waste pickers and some of them have formed small groups that collect waste from here for recycling in various forms,” she said.
Ms Chipili said ZEMA and LCC would do injustice to the massive cleanup exercise if they allowed rubbish dumped at the site to be taken back into the communities as this would be a serious health hazard.
“We are aware that the number of waste pickers here has been increasing and getting out of hand…as ZEMA we have to take this kind of measures to ensure that we protect the health of our people as well as the community around here,” she said.
Meanwhile LCC assistant director of public health Edgar Mulwanda said the two authorities teamed up not to destroy the recycling industry but to improve it and encouraged other players to start separating waste at source.
He said the decision was made because scavengers were also supporting the recycling industry, which government wanted to see thrive. “We are there to improve the industry and going forward with the cleaning exercise in Lusaka, we are encouraging the general public to start separating the waste at source so that the people who are collecting the recyclables are able to do that from source,” he said.
