Under the slogan...Muscat, clean For Us and By Us
Muscat Municipality asserts the success of the household direct waste collection system
Qais Al-Kosheri: The system will be circulated to various states of Muscat on stages by population density.
• Distribution of 2000 household health containers with capacity of 120 liters.
• Solid waste relocation on Saturday and Tuesday.
• The need for cooperation of everyone is a step towards the success of this system.
By Ibrahim Al-Hassani
Under the development of methods of waste collection and preservation of public health and the aesthetic view of the city, the Department of Health Affairs in Muscat Municipality asserted that the departments have succeeded in applying the new system launched by the beginning of this year to transport waste from the districts and residential compounds in the city, through the implementation of daily direct relocations in front of the houses and the allocation of special containers for every house dedicated for this purpose.
Qais bin Suleiman Al-Kosheri, Director of the Department of Health Affairs, Muscat Municipality, explained that the system has been applied on an experimental basis at the beginning of January of this year to areas of Al-Athaibah (Phase VI), and Al-Mawaleh Al-Janubiyyah (behind the City Center), and the area of Social Housing in Al-Khud (The Health District). All the current containers dedicated for waste collection distributed the squares and public places in these pilot areas were withdrawn in order to enhance the the public appearance, providing waste containers for every house. Following the success of this experiment, the system will be circulated to the different regions and states of Muscat gradually according to the population and Urban density.
Objectives of the program
This program aims at maintaining the aesthetic appearance of the district by removing off the sites and containers allocated for waste collection for several houses in the area in order to prevent and reduce the spread of insects and rodents, limit the spread of diseases caused by such insects and rodents, and prevent the disposal of solid and consumed wastes in public squares and next to containers. This adds to the reduction of the cost and effort in transport operations through the daily direct relocations of wastes from houses to identified disposal (landfill) sites.
Preparations
The municipal teams carry out preparations and undertake a role in preparing the areas to initiate the application of direct waste transport system. Special working teams are accordingly directed to clean up the area of dry bushes and trees and agricultural residues, and to treat such areas with pesticides to get rid of insect impacts and other residues.
2000 Private Containers
Qais Al-Kosheri indicated that the municipality has distributed 2,000 containers upon the application of the system for each house in the targeted pilot areas, with this number doubling during the first six months. The container is made of plastic and is marked by preventing leaks. It is green in color and can accommodate 120 liters as per capacity. It is equipped with wheels for easy transport and a protective cover to prevent the spread of bad odors. The owner of the house has to maintain the container and keep it inside the house to be under their direct responsibility.
Qais Al-Kosheri
Relocation Program
In complement to Relocation Program, the waste transporting vehicles of the Directorates of Muscat Municipality pass daily through the districts where the program is applied at 5 AM for the relocation of household waste from each house separately, in agreement with the owners of these houses on bringing the containers out before 5 AM for unloading by the team concerned with the relocation of household waste. This reduces the duration of the waste in the container, which in turn limits the spread of insects and bad odors that are often troublesome for people. The municipal vehicles relocate waste through passing through houses, discharge the container and return it in front of the house.
Numbering Containers
The house distributed containers are numbered so that the house number is the same as the container, with a serial number indicating the number of containers, provided for each house in order to facilitate the procedures for the relocation of the waste out of the containers. Moreover, this facilitates the follow-up process of the complied and non-complied houses. A bilingual form for container delivery of (Arabic and English Form) indicates the full address, telephone number and signature of receipt. It is handed over in two copies: one for the citizen and the other is for the municipal records. Therefore, it becomes possible to recognize the houses to which containers have been delivered.
Solid Waste
The Director of the Department of Health Affairs, Muscat Municipality, indicates that the Municipality has set Saturday and Tuesday weekly for the relocation of other solid and bulky waste (e.g. the remnants of hardware, furniture, tree trunks or other). In this regard, the municipality is seeking everyone`s cooperation to remove solid waste out of houses, one day before the specified deadline and place it in the designated sites in the district in an organized manner. The Municipality vehicles can, then, relocate it in the next morning, or make a telephone call for direct relocation coordination out of the house. This way, the district is kept clean all the week round.
Concern for the Environment
Qais Al-Kosheri indicates that the staff of the Sanitation Departments in the Directorates are doing great efforts to perform this work, in order to concern for the environment in Oman under the economic and social development in the Sultanate. This concern for the environment has expanded to form an aspect of sustainable development. Hence, the Program of Environmental Sanitation is regarded as one of the most important programs that seek to create a healthy environment with all its branches and components, e.g. the safety of food, water and air and handling with waste, sewerage, and the environmental sources of diseases.
Within the Municipality`s keenness to preserve public health and sophisticated municipal work, out of belief in the role of citizens and residents in maintaining the cleanliness and beauty of the environment and for developing the methods of collecting and disposing of household waste, this system has been applied.
Waste Recycling
The Municipality hopes that this system will result in a significant reduction in the volume of waste as a way of life for every member of the society, so that consumption will be as needed. Moreover, the future plan for the application of this system provides the need for separating waste from its source (citizens and residents) to be sorted for reusing or recycling for applying the system of (Waste Reducing, Reusing and Recycling). In the final phase, waste will be turning into an economic resource through private sector companies to receive waste for reusing or recycling.
Community Awareness
For the importance of awareness and guidance in the field of spreading awareness among members of society and within the success of this program, coordination has been conducted with the offices of Awareness and Guidance in the Directorates to ensure the delivery of the message to citizens and residents. Awareness and Guidance Teams paid visits to houses in the target areas to educate their inhabitants about the program, distribute printed publications in Arabic and English and inform the citizens about how to contribute to the success of this program and its significant importance to the surrounding environment. "The cooperation of citizens and residents is significant in the continuation and development of the program for the identified phases" said Al-Kosheri. Furthermore, beneficiaries have been informed about the places of collecting solids, remnants of equipment and trunks of trees, as well as about the relocation deadlines.
