Deadlock over incineration fee delaying proper disposal

While proper disposal of medical waste continues to be a matter of concern in Sylhet city, a trilateral deadlock over fee is putting the process on hold.

Even though a longstanding mechanism is ready for operation, disagreement among the city corporation, an NGO and healthcare facilities over the charge fixed for incinerating such waste remains.

According to Sylhet City Corporation, daily produced medical waste is around two tonnes. SCC only collects those from healthcare centres and dumps them in a 12-acre landfill at Parairchak where there is a 20-acre marshland.

To dispose of the waste, SCC signed an agreement with PRISM Bangladesh Foundation, an NGO, on November 15, 2017 as the government agency has no means to do so on its own. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen inaugurated a medical waste management processing centre at Parairchak on August 31, 2019 -- around two years after the deal.

At the landfill, PRISM has installed an autoclave and a boiler, and dug two pits on nearly one acre of land given by the SCC, said Moinul Islam, district coordinator of PRISM.

An incinerator is ready to be set up, he said, adding that they are conducting operation in this situation to some extent.

The full operation process has remained halted for five months as over 30 percent of the total 122 healthcare facilities are yet to agree with the fee, said SCC Mayor Ariful Haque Choudhury.

The healthcare centres will have to pay the NGO Tk 1,400 to Tk 55,000 monthly to dispose of their medical waste, said SCC Chief Engineer Nur Azizur Rahman. “We have prepared a rate chart of the monthly fee for all hospitals, clinics as well as diagnostic centres,” he said.

Private Hospitals and Diagnostic Centre Owners Association is not agreeing with the proposal. Its president Dr Naseem Ahmed said, “We are already paying the city corporation for collecting all types of waste. And now, we will have to pay the NGO for medical waste and SCC for general waste collection?”

Dr Naseem, also chairman of Noorjahan Hospital, said, “The move will eventually double our costs. We asked the city corporation to consider it.”

In this regard, Mayor Ariful Haque said they will hold a meeting soon.

Many of the government and private healthcare centres have agreed with the payment till now, said PRISM Coordinator Moinul Islam, adding that a negotiation among the remaining ones, PRISM and SCC is going on.

Among the 37, five large hospitals -- Women’s Medical College Hospital, North East Medical College Hospital, Park View Medical College Hospital, Noorjahan Hospital and Al Haramain Hospital -- are yet to accept the proposal, said the PRISM official.

LONE INCINERATOR DOESN’T WORK

The city has only one incinerator at MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital.

Its Deputy Director Dr Himangshu Lal Roy said, “Our incinerator has remained out of order for five years. The city corporation is collecting waste produced here. We have a pit where we burn some waste.”

IMPACTS ON HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT

Meanwhile, tonnes of untreated clinical waste being dumped near the wetland “Bharera Beel” are causing health risks and environmental degradation, said experts. Such a situation exists due to indifference of the government and hospital authorities and subsequent absence of necessary apparatuses for decades, they said.

More than one lakh people live near the marshland. They depend on it for their livelihood. During dry season, they grew crops; and in the monsoon, they catch fish.

The garbage is being spread to nearby 200 acres of farmland, said locals demonstrating over the issue.

Ajmol Miah, a farmer living there, said, “During rainy season, my farmland is flooded with waste, causing difficulties in cultivating crops. Besides, quality of the yield is becoming poor as soil is losing fertility.”

Misbah Uddin, caretaker of two nearby fisheries, said, “When it rains, the waste and contaminated water enter the waterbodies, killing fish. Last monsoon, we lost fish fries worth Tk 2 lakh.”

Monoronjon Talukder, a local, said, “More than 100 fishermen in nearby Gotatikor and Dhopapara areas switched their profession as they do not find fish in the beel.”

“Besides, many were injured with sharp objects hidden inside the marshland,” he said.

During a recent visit to the site, this correspondent found many ragpickers collecting items -- including syringe, saline bag and medicine ampoule -- without using safely gears.

Ten-year-old Mohammad Khoka and his mother Shikha Begum were among them.

Khoka, a third-grader of a local school, said he collects the items because he can earn money by selling those.

But, neither the boy nor his mother know that these are full of germs and may cause serious health risk.

Dr Debapada Roy, director of Directorate General of Health Services in Sylhet, said, “Such medical waste can cause serious respiratory, skin and other problems to them.”

Civil Surgeon Dr Premananda Mandol echoed the same.

Shikha Begum, another ragpicker, said around 50-60 people -- including 10-12 children -- collect items every day and earn Tk 300-500 each daily by selling those.

When asked about health risk, Shikha said she is not aware of it.

Based on the collection, a business group to purchase those items has been formed near the dumping ground.

Prof Jahir Bin Alam of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology said, “The dumped medical waste has been damaging soil and contaminating water and air for years in the surrounding areas.”

“In a test around two years ago, we found mercury, cadmium, zinc and copper in groundwater collected from tube-wells within 5km in the area,” he said, adding that canal water was also in similar situation.

The contamination might spread to the nearby Surma river, said Prof Jahir.

The people living in the area are at high risk of being affected with many diseases like cancer. Children are most vulnerable, he said.

PROTESTS CONTINUE

Locals and environmentalists have been protesting the unplanned waste dumping for a long time.

Ana Miah, convener of Krishak and Paribesh Rakkha Committee of Dakshin Surma, said, “We have formed a human chain and submitted a memorandum to all authorities concerned to save Bharera Beel and the farmland.”

Expressing concern over such dumping, Abdul Karim Kim, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon’s Sylhet chapter, said, “It is posing a serious environmental threat. It is deeply concerning that they [the authorities] are treating medical waste as general waste.”

“We demand immediate change of this situation.”