- Chobe District Council aware of risks posed by Kasane landfill
- An environmental eyesore that threatens prospects of tourism
- poses risks to environmental sustainability
- business in neighbourhood suffer
- proposal to relocate and rehabilitate the area made
- council says relocation gives way to new hospital
Kasane Landfill remains an eyesore that frustrates the aesthetics of this tourism resort town, and for many years, various stakeholders have called out authorities for turning a blind eye to this environmental transgression.
The Kasane landfill is situated about 200 metres from the major road, connecting the world renowned Chobe National Park, the Kasane International Airport and the neighbouring Zambia (Livingstone) and Zambia (Victoria Falls). These road is used to transfer hordes of tourists who frequent the Chobe National Park from the neighbouring countries, as or self-drives from the southern part of the country.
Apart from its position on the roadside, it also sits on a prime area of Kasane with a shopping mall, Chobe Farms and an aquaculture project –Chobe Bream – also posing serious health, environmental and economic threats to these establishments.
“Most travellers come to Chobe to unwind and relax, however seeing the landfill right next to the road upsets them, and can mess up their safari,” one safari operator said of the land fill.
After almost two decades – the Chobe District Council has this week said it is aware of the risks posed by-products of solid waste deposited at Kasane landfill, their adverse effects on the surrounding environment and humans closer to landfill sites.
The delays in relocating the landfill has been blamed on misplaced priorities by the council, and by extension the government through the ministries of local government and that of environment
As alluded earlier, various stakeholders that include conservationists, tourism operators, retail business operators and the community at large have over the years raised concerns with the Chobe District Council about the air pollution and bad odours linked to the landfill site. They are of the view that waste from the landfill has an impact on the surrounding environment and residents living closer to it as it may cause health problems.
The media has also raised the alarm over this landfill – In 2008, The Ngami Times published articles of the environmental dangers of the landfill, and that it was misplaced so much that it had become an eyesore, atleast to our visitors. At that time, elephants were dying from ingesting waste dumped there and calls were made to electrify the area in the short term, while a long term solution was to relocate.
It appears this has taken more than 16 years for that to be actualised, or atleast for a proposal to be made for the relocation – as through both the District Development Plan 9 (DDP) and the Kasane Kazungula Redevelopment Plan recommendations, Chobe District Council has made a proposal to government requesting for the relocation of the landfill from the prime area to a proposed out.
In an interview, Chobe District Council Secretary Joseph Segopa acknowledged that the current location of the landfill is not ideal, as it sits on a prime area in the heart of the tourism resort town. He revealed that they have also received complaints from different stakeholders about the location of the landfill and the environmental risks associated with it, among them pollution. Segopa noted that for the past three years there has not been an operational plant at the landfill site used to compact waste materials which led to fire outbreaks. He indicated that waste materials usually lead to the production of methane gas that end up causing fire outbreaks.
Surprisingly, Segopa said the plan to relocate the landfill was not in response to the public outcry on the location of the landfill and its apparent threats to the environment and to tourism which the economic backbone of Kasane and by extension Chobe, but rather to give way for the construction of a hospital.
Segopa has stressed that the plan to relocate the landfill was based on recommendations made through the Kasane-Kazungula Redevelopment Plan to relocate the landfill from the prime area after assessments that were conducted. He stated that the Kasane-Kazungula Development Plan designates allocation of the new Kasane hospital near the landfill as such they would have to propose for government to relocate the landfill and rehabilitate the area since a health facility cannot be located near a landfill.
“From the Kasane-Kazungula Redevelopment Plan proposal the landfill is located at the middle of the prime area, so we believe that going back to the management, we will ask them to consider moving the landfill and to rehabilitate, so that the area can be used for urban developments and generate income,” he said.
Chobe District Council Chairman Chimney Mululwani has also told this publication they have received many complaints from the public about the Kasane landfill. Mululwani stated that the council is aware of the situation and everyone living in Chobe is aware of that. He stated that indeed the landfill poses pollution risks to residents living near the area and businesses operating near it.
“There are plans underway to relocate the landfill and to rehabilitate it current location, through the District Development Plan (DDP) 9. We have proposed the issue of relocating the landfill as one of the top priorities so that we can receive funds for the project,” he said.
