The Otjiwarongo municipality responded swiftly last week after a large amount of illegally dumped medical waste belonging to the Osire health clinic was discovered outside Otjiwarongo.
A local resident made the discovery last Wednesday at a site about one kilometre south of the town.
Dozens of yellow, green and red medical waste bags and other discarded medical items were found. The bags were torn and their contents - soiled and bloody linen, used cotton wool, medical packaging – had spilled out.
The wind had blown some of the bags and waste into nearby trees and bushes.
Paperwork found among the rubbish implicated the Osire health clinic, and the Otjiwarongo municipality said clinic staff admitted that the waste came from them.
Town council spokesperson Adelheid Shilongo told Namibian Sun that the clinic admitted responsibility after the municipality had contacted both the Otjiwarongo health centre and Osire in order to identify the culprit.
She said officials from the Ministry of Health and Social Services promptly removed the waste and took it to local incinerators after the matter was reported to them.
The resident who made the discovery on Wednesday said by Friday the site was clean.
Questions sent to the health ministry spokesperson in Windhoek on Friday remained unanswered by yesterday afternoon. Attempts to speak directly to the ministry’s permanent secretary failed when he said only the public relations office at the ministry would deal with written questions from the media.
Under Namibia’s medical waste management plan, different coloured bags are used to segregate hazardous and infectious materials from other hospital waste. Red bags are used for infectious waste materials, including amputated limbs and used needles, green bags are used to dispose of soiled and bloody linen and yellow bags are designated for leftover food.
Shilongo said the site where the waste was discovered had been used by several people to illegally dump garden refuse and building rubble in recent months.
Although the town’s sanitation team focuses mostly on the town itself, it will keep an eye on this area.
“People have taken advantage at this dump site. However, our sanitation team has resolved to make this area a priority monitoring area,” Shilongo said.
The resident who made the discovery on Wednesday praised the swift action taken by the municipality.
“I was very happy that they reacted so quickly,” she said, adding that the illegal dumpsite is clearly visible to anyone arriving at the town and creates a bad image of the town. She added that due to its proximity to the town, refuse dumped there can easily be blown by the wind back into the town.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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