Just hours after the dawn of the Sinhala & Tamil new year, we heard the terrifying news that residents at the foot of Meethotamulla Garbage dump, got buried under rubbish and soil due to collapse of a part of the dump. This is one of the worst manmade disasters in recent times in Sri Lanka. As I was writing this article, twenty six people have been confirmed dead and more have been reported injured .Many families lost their bread winners and their loved ones. Subsequent to this incident there had been finger pointing to politicians, city planners, administrators and many others including those who lived near the dump as responsible for the accident. The incident exposed the sheer truth as to how we as a nation handled an important matter irresponsibly.

The news and discussions following this disaster led me to investigate the matter further. What I observed through media is that the main focus was on how to dump waste. Several questions came to my mind. Wasn’t there a policy and process of waste management? Was that policy and process was comprehensive enough? Was it implementable? How was it implemented? Was the whole process reviewed?

A good waste management policy is expected to avoid or minimize the generation of waste including hazardous materials at the sources. Such policy ensures that waste treatment, disposal, recovery and re-use is undertaken in a safe, scientific and environmentally friendly manner. Good waste policy contributes to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, energy conservation and production, water efficiency and the productivity of the land while treating waste as a resource.

According to the Ministry of Environment a “National policy on Solid Waste Management” has been already established. The "Pilisaru" national solid waste management program has been articulated to translate this National Policy into actions . Further, a national apex body named "The National Platform for Solid Waste Management' has been established with the view to provide overall guidance, national coordination and financial and technical program facilitation through resources mobilization .

The expectations are well said. Yet what is happening on the ground?

Under local government laws in Sri Lanka, the waste collected from houses, streets and other places by local authorities are the property of these councils and they have full power to sell or dispose them. It is evident that there is very low level of coordination among local activities and national level policies and programs. The supervision, monitoring, governance and controls of the waste management process is highly questionable.

The national policies & processes should seamlessly integrate with all stakeholders of this process; the waste sources, the waste collectors and owners (, i.e local councils )and the central authorities. It is high time, as responsible engineers with expert knowledge we raise our voices individually, through our work places and collectively through IESL, and constructively contribute to establish efficient mechanisms and avoid these kinds of disasters in future.

Eng. Indika Walpitage
Indika.walpitage@gmail.com