Omoro residents, Gulu City disagree over waste disposal

Abuga Sub-county authorities in Omoro District have accused the Gulu City administration of dumping garbage and medical wastes at random unrestored barrow pits inside villages within the sub-county.

Residents and local leaders state that the skips filled with garbage from Gulu City are trucked and emptied under cover of darkness.  The garbage, said to be generated from the Bardege-Layibi Division, has been dumped here for the past three months.

Mr John Moro, the LC1 chairman of Abuga Village where the contentious dumping site is located, last Saturday said the circumstances under which the city administration turned the open barrow pit in their village into a dumping site remain unknown.

Mr Moro expressed frustration at the failure of the sub-county leaders to implement a recently passed resolution to block the move since the barrow pit is positioned near streams and springs that locals draw water from for domestic consumption and that it also sits near Abuga Primary School.

“We now fear that these medical wastes may result in a very serious health problem, especially for our children who play at the site and the community members who use the nearby water point,” Mr Moro said.

He added that after several complaints, they came to a resolution with the city saying they were unaware of medical wastes being dumped at the site.

“From last month after our meeting, there was a little improvement but that has since reversed as dumping waste has resumed,” he said.

Our reporter visited two separate sites at Abuga and Okucce villages last Saturday where garbage has been dumped since August. While children could be seen scavenging on the garbage heaps to collect plastic bottles, the unsorted garbage included heaps of toxic medical waste.

There were examination papers from Gulu University including medical receipts from two separate medical facilities located at Lacor Trading Centre and Layibi Trading Centre, both in Bardege-Layibi Division, while one of the garbage skips belonging to Gulu City Council was at on the site.

Mr Martin Ocan, a resident in the area, said the presence of the medical waste and stench from the waste has made life very difficult for them.

“They only halted the illegal dumping of the wastes for a moment after our meeting but they later resumed. Life here is unbearable with the bad smell coming from the site. We pray that they listen to us and stop dumping the waste here for the sake of our health and that of our children,” Mr Ocan said.

Mr Mathew Nyeko, another resident, told this publication:  “I fear that we will soon get infected with diseases because of this mess.”

Mr Walter Robby Odongo, the Abuga Sub-county chairman, said they held a meeting with the city authorities over the continuous dumping of waste in Abuga Village, which made several resolutions but none of them has been implemented.

“The city knows very well the procedures of waste management. The act is very clear and when you are doing something that you know is bad, it is not well,” Mr Odongo said.

He added that his office also received a petition from the management of Patuda Health Centre II regarding the same.

“The management of Patuda Health Centre II made a report to my office that the illegal waste disposal poses dangers to the children in the school and also the health of the community. I wrote to the city and asked them to stop dumping waste at the site. I recommended that they fill up and bury the wastes to prevent future health risks for the community,”  he said.

Mr Patrick Ogwang, the Bardege-Layibi Environmental Health Officer, said waste had been illegally dumped in the area and that they held a meeting with the community and leaders of Abuga Sub-county and had resolutions.

Mr Anthony Banya, the regional head of the Allied Health Professionals Council, said the weak policy environment and limited supervision by the urban councils provide leeway for health facilities to uncontrollably dump medical waste.

Mr Banya added that although the Healthcare Waste Management Regulations, and the National Environment Act do not make it specific and detailed for healthcare waste management, it is upon every health professional to properly manage health waste.

“The proper enforcement of the healthcare waste management by some of us the regulatory bodies remains a challenge because of the gaps in the regulations but we emphasize to our allied professionals to manage their wastes well,” Mr Banya added.

Mr Patrick Oola Lumumba, the Bardege-Layibi Division mayor, said they are aware of the illegal dumping of waste in Omoro District but attributes it to the ongoing refurbishment and expansion of the city’s landfill.

“We have inconveniences as far as dumping waste is concerned and you cannot continue dumping it at the landfill while work is in progress. We were asked to look for alternative places where we can dump our waste for the moment and Abuga Village was part of it,” Mr Lumumba said.

He added: “I cannot tell what kind of waste is being dumped at the site. If there are medical waste, then the health facilities are in the right position to answer that because I know they should burn their waste.”

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