ZAMBIA: Failure to manage urban waste

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

LUSAKA, 19 May 2004 (IRIN) - Heaped garbage, a choking smell and pools of stagnant water sum up the state of Soweto market, the largest open-air trading area in Zambia's capital, Lusaka.

The unhygienic conditions are a sign of how urban waste management has failed in what was once called the "garden city" but is now cynically referred to as "garbage city".

Lusaka, with a population of 1.2 million, generates about 290,000 kilograms of waste every year, or roughly half a kilogram per person, of which 70 percent is domestic and 30 percent commercial and industrial.

"Waste management has been one of the most blatant failures of the local authorities in Lusaka in particular," lamented Chishimba Milonga, a resident of Lusaka's Northmead suburb. Although garbage collection has taken place in the recent past, the city still remains extremely dirty.

Cholera outbreaks are frequent during the wet season, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Zambians. Local government and housing minister Sylvia Masebo closed Soweto during an outbreak in February this year, which militant marketeers resisted. The closure affected about 2,500 traders, who were advised to use alternative markets.

At the time, Lusaka had already recorded 2,482 cases of cholera and 110 deaths. "The closure is very welcome. We have been paying huge sums of money to the market authority but they have done nothing about the situation, which is a health hazard," said a woman trader.

The council collects Kwacha 1,000 (US 21 cents) every day from each trader for rehabilitation of the market. "The environment here is pathetic - any effort, therefore, by government to improve the standard of the market is welcome, and we shall support it," the trader said.

Milonga is among the residents who blame the poor state of waste management on public attitude and the failure of local authorities to prioritise it. "Sadly, even when bins are available, you find people dumping garbage on top of the bin. I do not think that the local authorities have their priorities right in terms of garbage collection. It seems that the money [levies collected from traders] finds its way to some other dubious use."

He believes the solution lies in changing attitudes by developing a sense of appreciation for a clean environment. "The enforcement of bye-laws, which govern conduct in public, is so lax that ... there seems to be no punitive action taken when [some]one misbehaves. The councils should punish those who defecate, urinate in public and all those who dump garbage anyhow, and intensify garbage collection."

Charles Chilekwa, a resident of Lusaka's Chilenje south, said it was annoying that the Lusaka City Council (LCC) did not collect garbage, even when the residents, or most of them, paid municipal rates and taxes.

"The council has a 'window dressing' arrangement, in which it collects garbage in the central business district once in a while, but it never does in medium- and high-density residential areas, for the simple reason that influential politicians and business managers do not reside in those parts," he charged.

To address the problem of waste management, the LCC has now begun waste collection and transportation on the basis of franchised contracts, with contractors selected through a competitive tender.

In 2001 the LCC set up the Lusaka Solid Waste Management project, funded by the Danish Development Agency, to review and develop a new municipal waste management system. The project's tasks include strengthening the newly established waste management unit and developing a 15-year strategic solid waste management plan with an environmentally sound landfill site.

"Since the introduction of project there has been an increase in the amount of garbage collected," said LCC spokesperson Peter Kashiwa. "[It] is now 10 times [more] compared to the time before the project started - about 25,000 cubic litres of garbage is shipped out on daily basis."

Kashiwa attributed the problem of waste management in the city to people who do not want to pay for garbage collection, making it difficult for the council to achieve the scheme's goals.

The franchised contractors have the sole right and duty to collect waste, bill for the services rendered and collect tariffs from all waste generators to whom services have been provided.

"In the last [garbage collection] scheme, contractors that were engaged selected the wealthy clients. But in the new scheme, every resident in city has become involved", Kashiwa said.

[ENDS]