LCC increases waste management districts

By MOSES SINJWALA THE Lusaka City Council (LCC) is to increase the number of Waste Management Districts from the current 16 to 21.

LCC Spokesperson, George Sichimba, said the increase in the waste management districts would correspond with the number of authorised Community Based Enterprises (CBEs) whom the local authority had since contracted.

Featuring on a Millennium Radio programme in Lusaka last week, Mr. Sichimba explained that the move comes after government realised that some districts were too big which was a challenge for waste collectors.

“This is the reason why waste collectors do not collect garbage on time. So the restructuring will also be done with the community based contractors that work in compounds which are also going to be divided into zones,” he said.

“We are going to make sure that the CBEs have the right and proper equipment and we are going to stop providing secondary waste collection for proper and timely disposal of garbage,” he said.

Mr Sichimba added that the local authority was going to embark on massive sensitization programs within the communities so that they understand that they have a legal responsibility under the statutory instrument No 100 of 2011 of the Public Health Act Cap 295 and the Local Government Act Cap 281 of the law of Zambia.

Recently LCC in partnership with private waste management companies enhanced the waste management systems to serve respective conventional and peri-urban areas in the city.