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Better fiscal mechanisms, sound budgeting and labour intensive models for providing services is what is needed if the waste industry is to meet the targets for service delivery and job creation.
This is according to Deputy Water Affairs Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi, who was speaking at the 2nd Waste Management Officers' Khoro held in Limpopo yesterday.
"In recognition of the need to create sustainable jobs and a need to extend services to the unserviced areas, government needs to collectively look at bottlenecks or impediments, whether administrative or institutional in nature, and come up with workable solutions.
"This is why we look at fiscal mechanisms for waste services, sound budgeting, labour intensive models for providing services, and compliance to other requirements of the Waste Act such as development of Integrated Waste Management Plans," said the deputy minister.
The conference, which brings together all waste management officers (WMOs) nationally in an effort to deal with the implementation of the National Environmental Management Waste Act, waste regulations and related legislation, also discussed practical ways and means in which waste can be better managed with local governments.
The deputy minister said it was also important to incorporate recycling into waste collection systems and to separate waste at the point of generation. "We are running out of landfill air space and most of the waste land filled is recyclable. Instead of wasting the resource by landfilling, it is better to divert it to either recycling, reuse or energy recovery."
She said the reuse and recycling of industrial waste was undertaken mainly by the private sector.
"Municipalities still have to build capacity to deal with the diversion but most importantly, to introduce waste collection systems in areas where they are non-existent. The people who can afford to pay for the service must pay and municipalities have to strengthen revenue collection systems, and also ensure that the services are also provided to indigent households who cannot afford to pay," said Mabudafhasi.
She said waste service must be one of the top service delivery priorities, as it was a basic service.
"It must be incorporated in human settlement planning and development and this includes planning for transportation, receptacles, waste disposal sites and so forth.
"We are working with the Department of Cooperative Governance and StatsSA to collect data on waste services in an effort to measure progress and how as a country, we are improving this service. We want to consolidate efforts from provincial departments as well to ensure that support to local government is provided in a coordinated manner," she said.
Mabudafhasi said the department would ensure that all the ideas and practical solutions discussed at the conference would be documented and discussed further. - BuaNews
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