Vandals trash signboards warning about proper garbage disposal in Sittwe

By DMG 10 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom

10 July 2022, Sittwe

Signboards erected in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, instructing people to dispose of their garbage properly, were recently destroyed by vandals, according to an official from the Sittwe Development Affairs Committee.

The signboards were torn down and their poles were removed, the municipal official added.

“The signboards were removed and some even tore up signboards,” said the municipal official, who declined to be named.

The warning signboards were put up in Sittwe on June 10, setting restrictions on when and where people are permitted to dispose of their various forms of waste.

But compliance has remained a problem, exacerbating the city’s already formidable waste management challenges.

“In Sittwe, about 80 tonnes of garbage is produced every day,” the municipal authority explained. “The township development committee is collecting garbage with garbage trucks, but the amount of garbage is a lot because it includes farm waste.”

U Moe Kyaw, a resident of Sittwe, pointed out that there are weaknesses in the garbage collection system run by the township development affairs committee, adding that common practices among members of the public are also a problem.

“Some people do not even throw their garbage in the trash,” he said.

The economic downturn brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and post-coup fallout, including ongoing political unrest, have increased the ranks of those scavenging Sittwe’s landfills as a source of livelihood. The increased scavenging has added to a sense of disorder on and around the local trash mounds.

“We need to take action against those who do not follow the rules,” said U Tin Nyein Oo, a resident of Sittwe. “There are people in the community who throw away garbage properly and there are people who throw away garbage without discipline. So we need to take effective action against those who dispose of garbage in an unregulated manner.”

A frequent complaint of capital residents is that piles of rubbish regularly sully the streets of Sittwe, and that the stench from its landfills negatively impacts locals’ quality of life, as well as the reputation of Arakan State’s largest city.