Landfill improvements: Mukalla striving to become trash-free [Archives:2008/1135/Reportage]
March 6 2008
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For many years, citizens in Mukalla believed that cleanliness meant getting rid of trash in their own homes. After collecting their household garbage, residents would take it outside the city to Al-Ghalila, a well-known open space that citizens made into a garbage landfill over the past 10 years.
But as the city has expanded, it grew to include land near the dump, which reduced the value of nearby homes and created environmental hazards.
During the past five years, residents were encouraged to buy land near Al-Ghalila because it was commonly thought to appreciate in value over time. But after a while, instead of watching the value of their land increase, people saw themselves mired in a swamp of trash, which put the residents in real trouble, both environmentally and financially.
“I have seven plots of land in Al-Ghalila, and the trash heap with its bad smell and its smoke makes building homes there really difficult,” Mukalla resident Shahab Abdulrahim says.
The German Technical Cooperation, or GTZ, and the Local Administration Ministry's Decentralization of Solid Waste Management Project plan to create a new landfill held to stricter standards that will improve the lives of Mukalla residents.
At the beginning of 2007, the city of Mukalla and the Yemeni government's Cleaning Fund Project requested technical and administrative support from GTZ in the field of solid (unburnable) waste.
“Since we only help poor governorates, Mukalla wasn't in our program,” said Abdulsalam Al-Mahdi, an expert with GTZ, “But because they asked us, we went and conducted studies with a special international team.”
GTZ studies in 2007 found that the area of Al-Ghalila will be a viable residential area in two years due to its location five kilometers outside of the city. The German development organization hopes to move the dump to Fowa district located 15 kilometers from the city, Al-Mahdi explained.
Once the old dump is ready after approximately one month, GTZ will hand over the project to Yemeni staff. The Yemeni training already has been going on for about four months, noted Mohammed Al-Eryani, Al-Mahdi's counterpart at the Local Administration Ministry.
GTZ has planned a newer spot for a landfill within the old Al-Ghalila dump, which they hope will be usable for five to 10 years. Additionally, it has created a small dam within the dump in an attempt to close the open space to garbage scavengers, who burn metal in order to resell it later.
“One of the main problems we faced – and still face – is getting rid of all the trash because it's being trampled on and buried by many trash scavengers in their effort to obtain steel, plastic and aluminum for resale,” Al-Eryani said.
He further noted that this type of scavenging through garbage is illegal, adding that the problem with the old dump is that anyone can get into it, pilfer through the refuse and burn the trash. Instead, he wants to make it legal to take metal from the dump in order to discourage scavengers from burning the trash.
Methane gas generated by burning trash causes environmental pollution. As of today, heaps of trash still are burning, with some have been burning for an entire year.
Al-Eryani mentioned that there have been some slight improvements recently in Al-Ghalila's condition and he commended the city for assisting with the clean-up efforts.
“At least we've stopped people from throwing their garbage there until we complete our studies and rebuild the Al-Ghalila landfill,” Al-Eryani remarked, “The Fowa dump will be open to all and it's not dirty like Al-Ghalila dump. [Until now,] only medical waste is buried there [temporarily].”
The process of constructing the new landfill in Al-Ghalila first entails spreading trash on the ground and then covering it with approximately 50 centimeters of dust. Afterward, a bulldozer will go over the heap five times to compact the trash and make room for more. GTZ aims to carry out the process without burning any trash.
However, before this process commences, Al-Mahdi says the dump will open for legal scavengers to come and take steel, aluminum and recyclables. This is an important part of the process because it reduces the landfill's volume of trash while at the same time allowing citizens to benefit financially from selling the recyclables.
Al-Mahdi also noted that this part of the plan benefits the environment because some plastics won't biodegrade for 300 years or more, so recycling them lessens their negative impact.
The difference between the old and the new dump in Al-Ghalila is that the new one is built according to international standards, which include erecting a gate so that no one except workers may get into it, along with registering all dump trucks that enter and noting the amount of trash each truck is carrying.
According to Al-Eryani, Mukalla will be trash-free in less than a year. The new dump in Fowa will be completed in approximately two years, but until that time, Mukalla residents will use the new spot in Al-Ghalila.
An electronic scale to be added at the gate to Al-Ghalila dump in the near future will be used to determine if Mukalla truly is trash-free, as well as collect reliable information about how much trash each person produces in a day. For example, one individual in Yemen produces 400 to 500 grams of garbage each day, Al-Eryani said.
“If trash in the dump weighs more 1,100 tons per day, then we'll conclude that there's something unusual to be investigated,” Al-Eryani said, “Different seasons and climates also play a large role in the increase of waste produced, but this can be estimated through studying.”
Burning trash was and continues to be forbidden, even in the old field in the new dump in Al-Ghalila dump, Al-Mahdi noted.
The Yemeni-German project seeks to regulate landfill sites and utilize equipment with basic technology that can be modified, maintained and repaired locally in order to increase job opportunities and reduce service costs. The project hopes to grow and privatize the industry through better regulation and increased financial transparency.
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