Kurasini sewage pond is there to stay, municipality says

In a move to ensure environmental cleanliness in city suburbs, a municipal health official has said that

residents of Kurasini suburb in the city have no reasons to protest against the presence of a sewage pond inconveniencing them for years.

Speaking with The Guardian Ernest Mamuya, responsible for environment in the district offices, said that the presence of the Kurasini pond is lawful and it was the surrounding people who had flouted the rules by constructing their houses close to the pond, existing there since colonial times.

He said currently the municipality cannot handle grievances about the presence of the pond close to residential areas as the pond is managed by a higher authority, the Dar es Salaam Water and Sanitary Authority (DAWASA).

In the near future people residing close to the pond would be required to vacate the area in order to pave the way for intended investments related to the construction of storage facilities for the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA).

Earlier, the officer addressed a press conference stating that among the factors contributing to environmental pollution in the district was haphazard construction of residential houses.

Mamuya highlighted various steps taken to ensure a sustainable development in hygiene, where the council is running a “Temeke Usafi Kwanza” campaign, to raise the level of cleanliness in the zone.

However, he noted other factors as lack of infrastructural upgrades in haphazard settlements, lack of public sewer systems, and intolerable habits of discarding waste by throwing around, not disposing them in sanitary ways.

Some people also drain sewer water when there is heavy rainfall, directing effluence to constructed water trenches. Illegal connection of the sewer water from the industries through rain water trenches was another problem, he said.

Lack of storage facilities for collected solid waste was a persistent problem, worsened by low health care standards among residents.

Despite efforts by the municipal council to maintain cleanliness in the suburbs, there are still many challenges it faces, including insufficient collection points to preserve solid wastes, enough latrines and poor water supplies in most schools in the district.

The municipality is struggling to educate people on their basic responsibilities like keeping their surroundings in a hygienic manner, especially in their places of residence.

William Muhemu, municipal environment official, said that the municipality generates 1138 tones of solid waste per day, carried out by council vehicles which are not enough for the work, so private vehicles are hired for the job.

Temeke municipality set aside Sh. 434.3 million in its 2013/14 estimates to purchase vehicles to be used for collection. It will also buy one compactor with a 40 ft trailer for transporting wastes to a dumping site.

Three equipped vehicles for road cleaning, and one lorry for waste collection will also be purchased, along with three storage containers as disposal facilities.