Conference to discuss waste disposal in West Africa

A regional workshop to discuss waste disposal programmes in West Africa including the involvement of city dwellers in waste management, and to design strategies to integrate the problem of urban waste into development plans so to minimise negative environmental impact, was opened in the Mali capital Bamako on Monday. The conference, the PanAfrican News Agency (PANA) reported, heard that 270,177 tonnes of solid waste and 56,522 cubic metres of liquid waste are produced every year in Bamako. Barely 45 percent of the refuse is disposed of outside the city, municipal officials were quoted by the news agency as saying. At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Mande Sidibe, highlighting the environmental effects of poor waste management, urged residents of the capital city to dispose of their wastes carefully, PANA reported. He told participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, as well as Spain and Canada that waste disposal is difficult, hence the need for strategic planning. PANA said the city of Bamako is like other African cities with populations exceeding one million inhabitants, with inadequate infrastructure for waste collection and disposal. It also lacks an appropriate waste management policy.