Why the Government and the Local Council Bodies miserably fails in Garbage collection and disposal? Does a Political Devil arising from the Heaps of Garbage?
Just after the Meethottamulla Disaster, The Chief Minister of Western Province Isru Devapriya, idiotically ridiculed the idea of burning the refuse for generation of Electricity, he claimed in an interview that idea is only suitable for school children’s project work; poorly performing Chief Minister of Western Province could not streamline the garbage collection regularly within the Dehiwela Mount Lavinia Municipal limits as per the present setup. While I am typing this useful reminder, it is into 5th week since the garbage truck last came to collect the trash other than the Kitchen Wastes, to Vanderwert Place Dehiwela. I don’t have a land area to burn or bury the trash collected! Own experience is as good as an example for many and for the objective.
The manner, the workers, and the public officials involved in the collection of garbage put out by the residents of Colombo District and of the proposed metropolitan area are nostalgically unsatisfactory and there is no any hope and visible plans to improve the collection and disposal of garbage against the ever-increasing demands warranted by the so-called development strategies, that totally ignores the trash collection mounted by the every single move by those ignorant development strategies. Added pressure to the garbage put out by existing residential and necessary numerous supporting establishments of those residents such as shopping malls, eateries etc.
Western Province alone has produced 3500 Metric Tons garbage per day by last year, this is 58% of total whole Island Garbage or Trash accumulated, that is another 2535 Metric Tons (42%) of garbage produced in the Pradeshiya Sabbhas of other than Western Province. Out of this total 6035 Metric Ton of garbage only about 15% is composted and another meagre 10% is recycled – leaving out a staggering 75% - 4526 Metric tons of waste to be seeking a dumping space from Whole Island and Western Province alone would seek dumping space for 2525 Metric Tons – a massive 2525 x 1000 Kg day to day and it is ever increasing hour by hour and had boomeranged into the ignorant strategies to an unmanageable proposition.
Ignoring an issue does not mean that the issue had been settled!
Unless the policy of the authorities to put an halt on looking upon the garbage of any form as just an item for unwanted disposal alone and sensibly changes to foresee the garbage as a resourceful produce to the national economy it will keep on boomerang negatively on many facets of development plans, with direct impact on health and cleanliness for tourism industry. Authorities are putting out many strategies that are not really reaching the public mainly because, the experts and authorities are painstakingly ultra-slowly crawling on Garbage Destination Projects (GDP) such as Composting, Recycling, Reusing, and Regeneration of Energy, but the public is left with garbage many folds in their hand than that has been streamlined into the Garbage Destination Projects. Could an expertise in Garbage Management within an urban and metropolitan area depend on the public alone to predestine the garbage produced to Garbage Destination Projects? Well if so the so called expert is measuring the garbage in grams not in Thousands of Metric Tons! Further if that same expert heavily depends on many millions of public and families to define the destination of garbage produced, any layman need not guess where and how it would boomerang!
Why the Public is opting to dump the Garbage various Public Places?
It is not they are uneducated or unaware of laws, it is simply they don’t have separate premises or space or a facility to handle their own garbage to incinerate or to burry, they have to hand over the garbage to the local bodies they are residing and that is the rational reason for assigning the local government bodies to collect the Garbage from the urban public. The Public cannot queue up at various collection points with various trash bags in their hands. As such any local bodies assigned collect the garbage and trash from the public has no any legal right to dictate the public to hand over the garbage after sorting out or into further sorting apart from kitchen waste and other trashes.
Of course the general puplic can be expected to support the government’s definite and well-defined plans, but solely depending on many millions of residents to resolve the garbage issues is blatant irresponsible inaction on the part of authorities.
The lamenting of Lack of adequate transport and lack labor by concerned authorities stupidly contradicted by their actions itself; as per the demand by the Dehiwela Municipal Authorities the Garbage truck along with the laborers has to visit twice a particular residential area rather than completing the collection of any garbage in just one visit! Any layman would understand that this is a fraudulent activity, and it is an overlapping fraud when they close the subject of garbage-collection for the day or week just after collection one portion garbage (only compostable kitchen waste). Such an activity that has been prolonging for some time now also frames a false picture on the entire management of garbage produced or put out general public of Colombo District. It is the duty the municipal employees to remove any garbage placed out the residence without refusing or arguing with the residents and demand money to remove various type of refuses, and it is the responsibility of the authorities to curb this type of hindrances for regular streamlined collection of garbage by avoiding the implementation of unsolicited practices through their employees. It is just not possible for the entire millions population further sorting of trashes and hence It is not justifiable any means to arrest the individuals who opt to throw garbage bags into public places while garbage collection by authorities is continuing to miserably fail! The number arrests simply indices the failed effectiveness of the trash collection by the local government bodies!!
The Government has just banned the polythene shopping bags, lunch-sheets, and regiform lunch boxes, a welcoming move though much belated against the more than three-decade-old menace of environmental pollutants, can the Government authorities be sleeping over this achievement? - The public and institutions are burdened with the huge amount of banned polythene bags that the government ignorantly overlooked for more than three decades – these banned items which are not easily degradable has to be removed from the public systematically and effectively as trash materials. Now the garbage collectors are lamenting over this ban and refusing to collect those bags even as trash!
The Policy towards Garbage Produced Requires a Separate Powerful Agency
The Government cannot punish the public for its failures, It cannot be overjoying over its banning whatsoever, and continue to ignore garbage collection issues unabatedly burden the Colombo public; this Good Governance Government is best advised to change the policy over garbage collection issues and establish mega storage facility, for garbage collection and employ labourers to sort out garbage destined to various emerging facilities of composting, recycling, reuse and for generation of Electricity, without heavily depending on millions of public to complete. Each province shall have two or three storage capacity with separate laborers to sort out, and the Western Province requires such facility very urgently.
All local government bodies including Provincial Government should be freed from collection and handling of Garbage, it should be brought under a Central Government Environmental Ministry and or an appropriate Central Environmental Impact Prevention Authority for Whole Island, enacting necessary laws through this Unity Government. Local Government involvement in GDP should be only optional with the authorization of the Central Environmental Authority.
Just ill-planned composting of kitchen waste alone will never clean the country! If you are not ready to buy a broom to clean your house you will live the house of dirt and its consequences!
