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Garbage separation exposes sanitation workers to disease
View(s):Sanitation workers are risking their health trying to separate household waste with their bare hands at garbage dumps.
They neither have gloves nor boots.
These garbage separation sites have also become an eyesore in the capital, Colombo and pose dangers to public health for which the Colombo Municipal Council is also responsible.
Environmentalist of the Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle, Supun Lahiru Prakash, said that apart from being an occupational health hazard it is also an appalling sight.
The sites at which they separate the garbage are posing health risks to the public as well, Mr Praksah said.
“They only collect degradable or non degradable waste. The rest is left over, attracting cockroaches and flies,” he said.
He said it was unethical to force workers to collect and separate garbage without protective gear.
Environmental Lawyer Wardani Karunaratne said that if the government expects people to separate their waste, the basic facilities should be given to the middle and lower class households. “At least provide garbage bins,” she said.
The government has not been able change attitudes despite campaigns, she said.
Schools too should educate children against dumping waste and reducing waste, she said.
If the government expects the sanitation workers to separate the garbage, they should be trained, she said.
Asked to comment on Friday evening, Y Sylvester, the Colombo Municipal Council’s director of Solid Waste Management, said she could be contacted during office hours for a response.
These pictures say it all: CMC workers handling garbage without gloves or any protective footwear. Pix by Sameera Weerasekera
| CMC councillor Dr. Kariyawasam asks for report on Meethotamulla | |
| Colombo Municipal Council Member Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam has asked the council to appoint a committee to submit a report on the collapse of the Meethotamulla garbage dump, last year. Dr. Kariyawasam who was Colombo’s Chief Medical Officer when the tragedy occurred on April 14 last year has proposed to the council to reveal facts on the use of chemicals to reduce the thickness of the garbage heap during a two-year period prior to incident. He has also said that the committee report should look into the quality of the gravel mounted on the dump and the personnel behind the project and who paid for what. In addition he says the report should also reveal who was behind the operation where 50 tankers of RYDALL OE chemical was poured on top of the garbage heap just three weeks before the tragedy. Meanwhile, Standing Committee (solid waste) chairman M.M.C Mahendra de Silva has vigorously denied claims that the CMC used chemicals on the Meethotamulla garbage dump as charged by the Municipal Council’s treasurer. He said they used an enzyme to stop the garbage from decaying and emitting a foul smell. |