08 Oct 2019

Processing and transforming waste into something useful and valuable remains a long lasting solution to indiscriminate waste disposal, Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development, Mr Vincent Seretse has stated. 

He was speaking during the 2019 World Habitat Day commemoration themed: “Frontier technologies as an innovative tool to transform waste to wealth,” at Hukuntsi on Monday.

He said there was need to acquire and utilise modern knowledge to transform waste into wealth and provide sustainable and beneficial solutions to the ecosystem.

The minister said this would only be possible with mindset change to regard waste as an asset.

He said the 4th Industrial Revolution ushered in bigger and brighter opportunities that must be exploited to better lives.

Minister Seretse said geographical orientation should never deter one from taking advantage of emerging technologies towards converting waste into something with social value.

He stressed that with technology, no two places would ever be far apart.

“Technology should bridge the gap between Gaborone and Hukuntsi, it should bring us together and closer, ” he added. 

On achievements, he said government had made progress in regulating, guiding, disposing and reticulating waste notably with the formulation of the National Waste Management Strategy of 1998 and Medical Waste Management Plan. 

The minister said organisations like Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) should continue exploring social benefits of waste.

He described the discovery of Kalahari Sand Building Block developed by BITRI, made from coal byproduct fly ash, as a milestone. 

Noting that the globe was grappling with ever growing waste challenges, Mr Seretse said indiscriminate waste disposal could lead to catastrophic crisis.

He said plastic waste had drastically increased with some countries such as Kenya having already banned plastic use.   

Botswana, he said, was heading in the same direction noting that plastic waste affected cattle production, contaminated water sources and caused great harm to marine life.

Mr Seretse said environmental pollution at household level was a concern citing hazardous fumes released from burning waste.

He challenged health facilities to dispose of their waste in an appropriate and prescribed manner expressing regret that a syringe landed in the hands of a student who used to stab others.

This, he said posed a great health threat to the victims as the safety of the needle could not be guaranteed.

Mr Seretse said if it was not for the negligence of those responsible for disposing waste, the needle would not have landed in the hands of a student. 

Turning to shelter, he said it  gave one dignity adding that for it to be habitable, it should be free from all forms of waste.

Kgalagadi District Council secretary, Ms Baipelelang Photlokwe emphasised the need for all to have shelter which she said was a basic  social necessity. 

Mr Meleko Thumpe, chairperson of Kgalagadi District Council hailed  the cleanup campaign initiative in his area saying it was bearing fruit.

Mr Thumpe called on law enforcement personnel to crack the whip on those who still perpetuated indiscriminate waste disposal.

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Merapelo Tshweneyagae of Hukuntsi, an ardent proponent of recycling, stated that it was not a foreign phenomenon. 

 

Milking buckets were made from large tins, he said.ENDS