OSHIKUKU – The waste management system in use in Namibia is not satisfactory as many settlements, villages, towns and municipalities do not have proper landfills and have resorted to using dumpsites for waste disposal.

This is according to the environment ministry’s spokesperson Romeo Muyunda.

“We are aware of efforts from some local authorities trying to find different ways of disposing residential and domestic waste but still, this remains a major constraint,” he said.

Muyunda said there is an urgent need to improve waste management in Namibia. 

“The Environmental Management Act, (EMA), Act 7 of 2007 highlights waste management as one of the essential aspects of environmental management in Namibia,” said Muyunda.

He said the EMA provides the strategic basis for waste management and requires that all public and private institutions put in place effective waste management systems to avoid damage to the environment and negative human health impacts emanating from waste. 

In 2019, the ministry launched the National Solid Waste Management Strategy. 

“The strategy is important to ensure that future directions, regulations, funding and action plans to improve solid waste management are properly coordinated and consistent with national policy, and to facilitate cooperation between stakeholders,” said Muyamba.

He added that the strategy aims to strengthen the institutional, organisational and legal framework for solid waste management, including the development of human and infrastructural capacities to manage waste.

“The ministry is continuously engaging local authorities to see how the current situation can be improved,” he said.

Meanwhile, urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni has urged traditional authorities to make more land is made available to the local authorities for landfill sites.

 “The town councils should be given a portion of land that should be fenced off; on the outskirts of the town,” said Uutoni during the handing over of houses at Oshikuku on Monday.

He said landfills will be a solution as such a site will have a recycling and sorting facility and sections for domestic and hazardous waste.

Residents from Oshikuku, Oniipa, Omuthiya, and Helao Nafidi who live near dumpsites have complained of smoke when rubbish is disposed through burning, and when garbage is blown nby the wind onto their erven from rubbish dumpsites.

The Oshikuku Town Council intends relocating the current dumpsite to a new rubbish site on the outskirts of the town following complaints by residents of smoke from the dumpsite.

The town’s deputy mayor Petrus Petrus said the council has resolved to relocate the dumpsite after residents informed the council they were unhappy with the smoke, fearing it posed a health hazard.

“The dumpsite is a challenge and has been there for years and we concur with the community that it needs to be tackled urgently,” said Petrus.

He said although it is urgent to have a new dumpsite, correct procedures must be followed and the relocation is going to be a costly exercise as they do not want to build something small that may have a shorter lifespan.

“Should we now build a new dumpsite, community members are urged not to settle near the dumpsite,” he advised.

One of the affected residents, Jona Shikongo, told New Era that the smoke from the burning waste had become problematic. 

“We no longer sleep well due to the smoke, and we are scared of being affected by diseases,” said Shikongo. 

- vkaapanda@nepc.com.na