Sittwe to relocate main dumpsite

By Thet Paing 28 Dec 2020

Thet Paing | DMG
28 December 2020, Sittwe

The Sittwe Township municipality is planning to relocate its primary rubbish dumpsite following an increase in the number of houses and squatters near the current landfill, alongside a rise in waste volume, according to the deputy director of the township municipality, U Kyaw Moe.  

The township municipality has earmarked 25 acres of land adjacent to the cemetery in Hmansi village for a new dumpsite. It is also planning to dump some municipal garbage in farmlands between Thingana and Setyoekya villages, he said.    

“We’ve planned to use parts of the cemetery in Hmansi village as a dump. However, authorities have not yet made a decision because the place is far from the town. And about Setyoekya, we have yet to buy farmland and repair roads. It is not as far as the cemetery,” said U Kyaw Moe. 

Managing Director Daw Thet Thet Htwe of the environmental group Thant Myanmar suggested sorting organic waste out of municipal garbage to address the problem of dumpsite space constraints. 

“In Sittwe, some 60% of waste is organic waste. If it is sorted out and dumped separately, this will help solve the problem of dumpsite shortage. If so, then people will have to separate waste,” she said. 

There are residential plots and monasteries near the current dump on Akyeittawkone hill in Setyonesu ward, which is also host to people displaced by conflict who are sheltering at monasteries in the neighbourhood.  

Residents near the dumpsite have said they are suffering from health problems due to its fumes. 

“The dumpsite smells really bad in the rainy season. And there are a lot of flies, so that we even have to dine inside mosquito nets. Some people burn garbage in hot and cold seasons, and some even have to go and see a doctor because of the fumes,” said U Maung Zan, an IDP sheltering in Setyonesu ward.