Government has given a two week ultimatum to the Copperbelt Solid Waste Company (COPWASTE) to remove the waste from Uchi damp site to abate disease out breaks in the surrounding residential areas.
Copperbelt minister Mwansa Mbulakulima says there is need for the firm to commence the waste removal immediately and clear the two kilometer stretch of waste that the company and others have been using as a damp site.
The minister was speaking in Kitwe when he toured the damp site as a follow up on complaints of fly inversion by residents in Natwange and Ndeke Townships.
ZANIS reports that the minister said there is need for companies that are using Uchi damp site for their waste disposal to protect the environment and the residents from the contaminated air coming from the damp site.
He said it was unacceptable and negligence on the part of solid waste companies to off load waste near the road instead of going inside the site.
‘I do agree with the residents complaints I am giving you two weeks to mobilize resources and move the waste to an alternative place so that the stench and flies can reduce, Mr Mbulakulima said.
Flies from the waste area have invaded the residential areas in Ndeke and Natwange located near the Uchi damp site.
COPWASTE managing director Collins Gwanu said his company has no recycling or compacting machine to use in its operations hence disposing the waste that it collects from residents in Kitwe at the damp site.
Mr Gwanu added that since 2007 when it started operations it has been using Uchi damp site for waste disposal together with other companies dealing in waste management.
‘” The company has only one landfill compactor vehicle that collects waste in the entire province and damps the waste in the same site, the waste is now two kilometers long, ” he stated.
And environment council of Zambia acting manager northern region Cliff Ngwata described the situation as unbearable because it has reduced the size of the road leading to the damp site due to the in discriminatory disposal of waste.
Mr. Ngwata appealed to COPWASTE to remove the waste, compact it, and bury it in an alternative site immediately.
Kitwe City Council acting deputy director of health Tom Kapeshi said the council is exploring other areas in Luangwa stage 2 and Malebeka areas that will be opened as damp sites for the districts.
Mr. Kapeshi admitted that it is an embarrassment and horrible to continue using Uchi damp site which is a few meters from residential areas.
[ ZANIS ]
2012 Arrest Warrants
1. Rupiah Crooked Banda
2. Dora Ho Siliya
3. Simon Mambala Miti
4. Vernon slim Mwaanga
5. George Hearse Kunda
Ba LT correct your chisungu.Its a dump site not damp site,invasion of flies not inversion & indiscriminate not in discriminatory disposal.Eishh.
Having said that i wonder why we’ve become so desensitised to widely accept living or working next to smelling mounds of trash as normal.I always see traders in markets selling even food next to rotting garbage with no concern whatsoever.Go to kamwala,Lusaka city proper,mtendere and chibolya and see the dirt we live with.Our standards of hygeine are …..well,nonexistent.
#2 good corrections.Knowing about some of the places you mention in zambia and their conditions i so appreciate the strict but really good standards enforced here in USA on garbage disposal and the adherence to them.It makes the place so livable.We need to drop our acceptance of living with mediocrity and put in the extra effort to put trash in proper places and have regular monthly inspections like USA of anybody serving food to the public.Walking over trash and open sewers in some market places is a culture that we need to get rid of.
What will MMD do to trash collectors after that 2 weeks ultimatum? Because they will not clean that 2-3 km of rubbish. If the government is dirty, do they expect people care where they spit, throw garbage and squats?
which party(council) approved the permit to operate?….Is there not a polution agency in Zambia and why have they let get so far advanced?….Just another GRZ MMD attempt at servicing the country with poor ministries and ministers
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