For a very long time now the biggest headache for Dar es Salaam city and urban administrations in the country has been how to manage waste, whose production has continued to grow as the urban population grows.
The challenges are especially acute in urban areas which have literally ballooned over the last few years. Records show that between 1965, a few years after independence and today the urban population in Tanzania has grown from just above 5.0 per cent to over 36 per cent now. This explosion in urban growth has not been accompanied by growth in waste management capacity.
Dar es Salaam faces an even more serious crisis. As the third fastest growing city in Sub-Saharan Africa and the 9th fastest in the world, it faces an uphill task in managing its waste output.
Studies conducted in the 1980s estimated that Dar es Salaam produced around 1,200 tonnes of solid waste daily, but the latest researches estimate that waste output in the city now stands at well over 2,500 tonnes a day.
The city does not have enough of the requisite infrastructure to handle the growing pile of solid waste and bigger volumes of liquid waste.
Dar es Salaam ‘s waste management problems revolve around dumping and sanitation, with rubbish being left uncollected in residential areas, or burned arbitrarily in street corners.
We all know how Dar’s storm drains clog during the rains, because solid waste has been dumped there.
Needless to say, one of the hurdles that authorities including Dar es Salaam city have encountered is the paucity of resources to undertake the clean-up.
Indeed there are major plans to improve Dar and other urban centres waste management capacity. But we also know how budget constraints have hindered their realization over the years.
We however see a lot of promise in the new waste management system launched by Ilala municipality for the Gongolamboto area in Dar es Salaam.
Run by the Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association (BORDA) Tanzania in collaboration with the Ilala Municipal Council, the integrated system will provide improved solid waste management for the Gongolamboto community, starting with 1,500 households with a final plan of serving 5,000 households.
The facility collects organic waste for composting while plastics and other synthetic materials are recycled and residual waste temporarily stored before being transported to the final dumpsite.
The 180.2m/- project will also serve as a primary demonstration and learning site on improved waste management for unplanned communities, according to BORDA’s Public Relations Officer Bossman Liana.
The initiative will reduce the cost of waste management for the municipality, while also providing assured employment to youths.
It already involves 32 youths and women groups to operate in the in various wards including Kimanga, Kwalani, Tabata, Kipawa, Vingunguti, Buguruni, Ukonga, Segerea Gongolamboto and Chanika.
The ward with about 57,310 residents produces about 46 tonnes of waste every day, which is removed by community based waste groups and taken to collection areas from where they are taken to the recycling plants.
Future plans include setting up committees for each ward to ensure effective management of the health and sanitation initiatives.
We hope that the other Dar es Salaam wards will enthusiastically learn from the Gongolamboto project to rid Dar es Saalam of filth and attendant diseases.
The challenges are especially acute in urban areas which have literally ballooned over the last few years. Records show that between 1965, a few years after independence and today the urban population in Tanzania has grown from just above 5.0 per cent to over 36 per cent now. This explosion in urban growth has not been accompanied by growth in waste management capacity.
Dar es Salaam faces an even more serious crisis. As the third fastest growing city in Sub-Saharan Africa and the 9th fastest in the world, it faces an uphill task in managing its waste output.
Studies conducted in the 1980s estimated that Dar es Salaam produced around 1,200 tonnes of solid waste daily, but the latest researches estimate that waste output in the city now stands at well over 2,500 tonnes a day.
The city does not have enough of the requisite infrastructure to handle the growing pile of solid waste and bigger volumes of liquid waste.
Dar es Salaam ‘s waste management problems revolve around dumping and sanitation, with rubbish being left uncollected in residential areas, or burned arbitrarily in street corners.
We all know how Dar’s storm drains clog during the rains, because solid waste has been dumped there.
Needless to say, one of the hurdles that authorities including Dar es Salaam city have encountered is the paucity of resources to undertake the clean-up.
Indeed there are major plans to improve Dar and other urban centres waste management capacity. But we also know how budget constraints have hindered their realization over the years.
We however see a lot of promise in the new waste management system launched by Ilala municipality for the Gongolamboto area in Dar es Salaam.
Run by the Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association (BORDA) Tanzania in collaboration with the Ilala Municipal Council, the integrated system will provide improved solid waste management for the Gongolamboto community, starting with 1,500 households with a final plan of serving 5,000 households.
The facility collects organic waste for composting while plastics and other synthetic materials are recycled and residual waste temporarily stored before being transported to the final dumpsite.
The 180.2m/- project will also serve as a primary demonstration and learning site on improved waste management for unplanned communities, according to BORDA’s Public Relations Officer Bossman Liana.
The initiative will reduce the cost of waste management for the municipality, while also providing assured employment to youths.
It already involves 32 youths and women groups to operate in the in various wards including Kimanga, Kwalani, Tabata, Kipawa, Vingunguti, Buguruni, Ukonga, Segerea Gongolamboto and Chanika.
The ward with about 57,310 residents produces about 46 tonnes of waste every day, which is removed by community based waste groups and taken to collection areas from where they are taken to the recycling plants.
Future plans include setting up committees for each ward to ensure effective management of the health and sanitation initiatives.
We hope that the other Dar es Salaam wards will enthusiastically learn from the Gongolamboto project to rid Dar es Saalam of filth and attendant diseases.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
