Waste management requires urgent attention, says report

Though the City of Kigali has made progress, there is a lot to be done as far as sanitation and waste management are concerned, the state of environment and outlook 2013 report, released by Rwanda Environmental Management Authority (REMA) shows.The report, which is released every two years to review the state of the city’s environment and suggests policy responses, pointed out that though more than 70 per cent have access to improved sanitation, there are large amounts of waste water directly poured into streams and wetlands.The percentage of households using formal collection services has gone up since 2005 but the percentage of households that dispose waste in public areas has also gone up, the report says.Most of the waste water is from domestic and industrial use and negatively affects human health and the ecosystem. The report further states that domestic waste collection services have still not yet matured to address the city’s needs.“Only about 25% of solid waste generated in Kigali is estimated to arrive at the landfill. Some solid waste is still dumped in public areas. The new landfill in Nduba in Gasabo District is far away from the city’s densest suburbs and is only reachable by dirt road and the steep slopes make it challenging for both large garbage trucks and common residents to reach it. Garbage collectors have also had to increase their client fees to compensate for extra mileage and inconveniences,” the report reads in part.While breaking down the report in Kigali, Leatitia Busokeye, the director of the Department of Research, Environmental Planning and Development, said solid and liquid waste management in both urban and rural areas of Kigali is an issue that needs to be addressed. “Though there is a landfill, people continue to illegally dump waste and waste waters in rivers, wetlands, ditches and other public places. There are also problems associated with open sewers and storm water drainage canals exposing city residents to unhealthy waters around them,” Busokeye said.A study conducted this year titled; “Industrial pollution and food safety in Kigali, Rwanda”, established that metal concentrations in crops cultivated in Nyabugogo wetland were within European standards for crop production, but on testing a sample of the population that consumed those crops, the metal amounts they had ingested exceeded the maximum threshold recommended by the World Health Organisation.“Lead intake was seven orders of magnitude higher than the threshold and four orders of magnitude higher form consumption of tubers,” the report reads. Exposure to heavy metals has been known to be a cause of retarded development in children, numerous cancers and kidney complications.Dr. Rose Mukankomeje, the Director General of Rema said there is need to have accessible centralised sewerage treatment plants which are currently individualised leaving it up to households to take it upon themselves to manage wastes.“The city plans to put up centralised district sewerage systems and individuals putting up individual systems are being urged to design them in a manner that supports the current and future plans,” she said.“The city master plan development is taking all the environmental factors into consideration while curbing emerging issues and challenges arising due to poor city planning ,”Busokeye, the Rema director general added.Fidele Ndayisaba, Mayor of the City of Kigali, said Rema and responsible ministries were working hand in hand with the City to address the negative environmental impacts to steer the city into lawful practices in the next five years.“With the population of the city growing steadily, now is the time to address such challenges to see to it that we are not overwhelmed in the future. It is the the reason we are keenly focused on implementing the master plan,” Ndayisaba said.With the city’s population currently at 1.35 million, it is estimated that the population could hit 3 million by 2020 which is likely to increase pressure on the environment.Other than biodegradable and organic waste, the report found electronic waste to be on the rise, with an increase in aging electronics which need to be disposed of.

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Waste management requires urgent attention, says report