Don Seeks New Policy On Waste Management

A university lecturer, Engr Ibiye Harry, has called  on the Federal  Government to implement  a new policy  that will  reduce the current  challenges  facing waste management in the country.
Harry, a lecturer  in the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt  made the call at the technical session  of the monthly meeting of the  Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), in Port Harcourt recently.
According to her,  the government   and engineers should key into the system by adopting the municipal   solid  waste  land filling system  in order to encourage  investors  to take a lead in the sector.
She observed  that the Niger Delta terrain  is generally  challenging  when it comes to solid  waste  management due to  its marshy nature.
The lecturer, who is also a  member of Young Engineers’ Forum, Port Harcourt said technically, the Municipal  Solid Waste Land Fill site selection is not a first choice,  but the consideration was  based on the risk of groundwater  pollution  when the water table is high  and the highly permeable  soil types in  the area.
“My position is, municipal solid waste land filling is a safer  alternative  to the  current dumpsite  practice in the area,” she opined,  adding that, the municipal  solid waste management system should be  run as a business to encourage investors into the land filling sector.
Harry noted that the municipal sold waste land filling is non-toxic, non-hazardous components  of solid  waste  discharged  from domestic places like industries, commercial places, institutions  among others,  are properly  recycled and   should be adopted  to reduce the current challenges  facing waste management in the country.

Collins Barasimeye