People mixed up over garbage segregation, say officials
Residents in Colombo and its suburbs are still confused over the segregation of garbage despite an improvement in the clearing of garbage heaps that accumulated over the past few weeks, officials say.
S.Abeyratne the senior operations manager of a private company which handles solid waste in the Colombo area told that they have removed the garbage from several dumping areas such as Bloemendal, Mattakuliya, Modara and Kotahena areas.
He said complaints regarding garbage had lessened after a waste management unit was set up by the government to monitor and regulate garbage collection.
However he said some residents were not segregating garbage due to lack of space.
He said in some areas garbage collectors segregate the collected items or they take the unsegregated garbage to their segregation centrers at Sedawatte and Kehelwatte.
He said garbage should be segregated into three categories-- recyclable degradable garbage, recyclable non degradable garbage and plastic and non recyclable waste. He said the company's supervisors educate the collectors. They also distributed leaflets to residents and use loudspeakers to educate them regarding segregation of garbage.
Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle environmentalist Supun Lahiru Prakash said a sustainable waste management mechanism was needed to solve the garbage issue.
He welcomed the President's decision this week to ban the use of polythene but said an alternative substitute is also needed.
Newly set up Waste Management Unit director Akila Ilangasinge, told
that garbage must be properly segregated and organic materials at hospitals wastage should be collected separately.
He said in addition to the telephone hotlines available at the unit for effective public service, the unit is considering fixing Global Positioning Systems (GPS) tracking devices to trace the route of the garbage collecting vehicles.
"Garbage dump sites at Karadiyana and at Muthurajawela gas company will be provided with CCTV cameras to check whether mixed garbage is being dumped." he said.