Through GO Network.. Callings for a sanitary landfill in Gaza

February 27th 2022

The Gaza Municipality and the Joint Services Council for Solid Waste in Gaza and the North called for the need to establish a sanitary landfill, in accordance with international environmental and health standards, stressing the importance of closing the rooster dump because its life expectancy has expired.

This came during an episode organized by GO Network, as part of a Digital Interactive Youth Community Project for better LUGS’ Services, which included relevant parties in the operation of landfills in the areas of Gaza City and the north.

The Executive Director of the Solid Waste Joint Services Council, Engineer Abd Al-Rahim Abu Gumboz and Ahmed Abu Abdu, the Director of Health and Environment Affairs of the Gaza Municipality, participated in the episode. The extensive discussion took place on waste collection services, landfill work mechanisms by the Gaza Municipality and the Council’s role.

At the outset, the episode reviewed the views of a group of scavengers working in a Gaza landfill, who showed that they were collecting plastic, cans of soft drinks and many different materials, which could be sold, as this was their only livelihood under the current circumstances.

Reflecting upon the role of the municipality, they said that the municipality dealt well with them, assessing their circumstances, allowing them to work in the place, without any prohibition, explaining that the risks were multiple in the work, but avoiding them as much as possible.

During the discussion, Engineer Abu Abdu said that the landfill east of Juhar al-Deek received waste from the Gaza Municipality and from 10 users, including the UNRWA, stating that the municipality’s objectives in solid waste management were to ensure timely collection of waste and ensure that all citizens had access to the collection and relocation service.

He also explained that the Municipality was working to relocate the waste to subterranean stations, storing the waste for a fixed time and transporting it to the Rooster dump, according to the criteria for the treatment of solid waste through sanitary landfill operations, a chain carried out by the Municipality in all circumstances.

On the work of the scavengers, Abu Abdu said that “the presence of the scavengers adversely affects the management of solid waste in Gaza City, and is borne by the municipality”, stressing that the municipality is “trying to adapt to these conditions and create opportunities for every challenge, to reach the main objective”.

In turn, Engineer Abu Gumboz explained that the Council is responsible for collecting secondary waste, i.e. collecting containers, transporting them from relocation stations and delivering them to the main existing landfills. It is concerned with the management of medical waste, collecting them through specialized vehicles, and transporting them to the treatment unit of the Deek terrier.

“120 health institutions, from UNRWA and international and local institutions, have been contracted to manage municipal waste,” Abu Gumboz said.

He emphasized that “the Council is studying the phenomenon of scavengers for possible regulation and is endeavoring to reduce the risks to waste pickers, leaving the mechanisms to operate comfortably in place”.

Participants recommended that initial collection should be sought by placing waste components in front of homes, to be sorted by citizens before anything else, stressing the importance of “bringing in funding for the closure of the rooster landfill, and working as a sanitary dump parallel to the pottery dump”.

They also called for policies to stop the landfill, in order to avoid health problems, and called for intervention from government agencies and donors to reach a sanitary dump in eastern Gaza.

In the same vein, the recommendations of the episode emphasized the need to ensure the existence of medical and sound standards, to ensure the safety of municipal crews, scavengers and various actors working in the place, calling for the resolution of the issue of scavengers through waste sorting from the source.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *