Diesel shortage disrupts MCC garbage collection schedule
The Maseru City Council (MCC) says a shortage of diesel and petrol that the council is going through is disrupting its garbage collection schedule across the city.
MCC Public Relations Manager, Ms. Lintle Bless, said under normal circumstances garbage along principal routes is collected daily. However, the ongoing fuel shortage has forced the council to reconsider its collection schedule.
Ms. Bless said the council is still assessing how the revised schedule will be arranged. In the meantime, she urged residents not to take household waste and dump it along principal routes but to wait until their designated collection days.
“We are currently experiencing shortages of diesel and petrol, which has affected our ability to collect waste as scheduled,” she said.
Piles of garbage have already accumulated along the main road from Ha Matala through Borokhoaneng, where waste has not yet been removed.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in December last year that poorly managed solid waste is contributing to a growing public health crisis and called for urgent action to protect communities and the environment.
According to WHO, the volume of municipal solid waste worldwide is increasing at an unprecedented rate, yet many countries still lack the systems and resources needed to manage it safely.
“Solid waste reflects how our societies produce and consume, and how we treat people and the environment in the process,” the organisation said.
The health body further cautioned that if countries continue to treat waste management as an afterthought, they risk increasing preventable diseases, worsening climate pollution and deepening social inequalities.
It added that a significant proportion of municipal solid waste remains uncollected or is disposed of under uncontrolled conditions such as open dumpsites and open burning. These practices damage ecosystems, contribute to climate change and undermine efforts to build healthier cities.
WHO said proper waste management could transform waste into a valuable resource by generating energy and creating green jobs.
It also urged governments and partners to prioritise reducing waste at the source, expanding affordable and reliable waste collection services, particularly in underserved communities, improving control at recovery and disposal facilities, and eliminating open dumping and burning, including hazardous waste.
-Lesotho News Agency