ISLAMABAD: Experts and environmentalists at a webinar on Saturday said a landfill site is the only solution to the sanitation-related issues federal capital until the government comes up with an integrated solid waste management solution.

However, they said, only 15 per cent of waste shall go to the landfill site after segregation of the waste collected into organic and inorganic.

The reusable and recyclable waste shall be separated particularly. Industrial and hospital toxic waste should not be dumped into the landfill site. The government should go for the Sangjani landfill site after addressing the citizens’ concerns and educating them on it.

Some of the participants also said the Kurri Road landfill site was an ideal place for garbage dumping and even the design was much better and according to the international standards. But some so-called environmentalists and technical experts misguided the citizens to protest against it.

The judiciary was also presented with wrong statistics to have an influenced decision to support the vested interest of the land mafia that ultimately benefited a housing society.

The same is being repeated in the case of Sangjani landfill site with the support of some government officers, environmentalists and technical experts in connivance with the land mafia, they alleged.

The webinar was organised by Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan). Keynote speakers included UN Habitat Country Manager Jawed Ali Khan, former director general Pak-EPA Asif Shuja Khan, Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director Munir Ahmed and ISWM expert Saadat Ali.

SDPI Director Environment Dr Imran S. Khalid, Prof Sofia Khalid, Sindh Environment Department Deputy Director Abdul Basit Khan, Dr Rashid Miandad from Peshawar, Nima Gurang from Kathmandu (Nepal), Ziaul Islam, National Programme Manager Ozone Cell of Ministry of Climate Change, and environmentalists Ali Abdullah, Zainab Mukhtar and Uzair Aftab also spoke.

Jawed Ali Khan said garbage is no longer considered as waste but as a resource. After adequate segregation, most of the waste becomes raw material for many products. We need to educate the citizens and authorities concerned to understand the new mechanisms of waste management.

As a technical agency of the United Nations, he said the UN Habitat had provided assistance to many countries to develop and manage integrated resource recycle centres. One was also developed in G-15/4 Islamabad in 2015 that is being run successfully. It is a profit-making centre that is producing manure for nurseries, parks and house gardens.

It needs only one kanal and some structure to cater to the need of a sub-sector.Asid Shuja Khan said Pakistan is producing 50 million tonnes of garbage daily that lacks proper disposal mechanisms. He said there was a need for a national strategy followed by a doable action plan, legislation to support the strategy.

Munir Ahmed said land mafia agents were opposing the Sangjani landfill site and inciting public protests in connivance with the land mafia. He alleged that some government officers and pseudo-environmentalists were also engaged with the land mafia to build up an opinion against the proposed landfill site. Saadat Ali said a landfill site has a nine-layer protection to avoid any leachate.

“The government should allow only a landfill site that fulfils the standards of international best practices. It is unfortunate that only 60pc of garbage is collected and even that is disposed of properly,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2020