Insiza council steps up waste management drive

The Insiza Rural District Council (IRDC) says it is intensifying efforts to manage rising volumes of solid waste in Filabusi town and surrounding rural service centres, despite facing significant equipment shortages. “We have together with other RDDC members launched the clean-up exercise in almost every RSC of each ward,” he said. “The hope has been that once launched, the local councillor, extension workers, businesses and the community would remain active on both clean-up days and beyond.

To our disappointment, only a couple of wards have taken that responsibility.” The council says it is complying with the national monthly clean-up programme and conducts weekly refuse collection in high-volume areas. However, limited machinery has slowed operations. Tshuma said the council’s five-cubic-metre cage trailer and tractor are too small to cope with the growing volume of waste.

Although tipper trucks are used in busy areas, workers struggle to load them manually because of their height. A shortage of refuse bins among households and businesses has also contributed to illegal dumping along roadsides, the council says. As an interim measure, IRDC is repairing a UD Nissan truck to replace the tippers while it seeks funding for more suitable equipment.

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To improve waste disposal infrastructure, the council has acquired an excavator and identified new sites for improved dumps. Two sites have been cleared in Filabusi, near Bekezela shops and close to the cemetery at Annadale Farm, and will be excavated and fenced in line with guidance from the Environmental Management Agency. The existing dumpsite near the magistrates’ courts will be decommissioned once the new sites are operational.

In rural service centres, the council has budgeted to establish five improved disposal sites under the current financial plan. It has also identified land for a planned landfill and says it will partner with Malinga Rise Housing Development under JR Goddard on the project.

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