Government to start development work in landfill site within a week

Minister for Local Development Rajendra Pandey has said that the government will start development work at Sisdol landfill site within a week as per its commitment .

Minister Pandey said so during his meeting with a delegation led by Maoist affiliated "New Kathmandu Valley Campaign", which went at the ministry to pressurise the government to resolve the issue of garbage collection and dumping.

Minister Pandey also added that the government will form a committee comprising representatives of eight political parties and locals to monitor the development works and also to resolve the issues of local people.

Sisdol locals have been protesting with demands like a hospital in the area, highway, a campus and employment to the locals. In the past, they had time and again obstructed the dumping of garbage in the landfill site.

Locals led by the Maoist affiliated union picketed the Ministry of Local Development and also parked a garbage-laden truck in front of the Ministry.

According to the participants, the sit-in was organised in a bid to earn the government's attention to the likelihood of the rapidly growing piles of uncollected garbage in Kathmandu and Lalitpur municipality resulting in the outbreak of an epidemic.

The locals of Sisdol of Okharpauwa Village Development Committee (VDC) of Nuwakot district have been restricting dumping the garbage in the area protesting the government’s apathy to fulfill their demands.

Despite repeated assurances by the government to address the demands, Nuwakot locals have refused to allow the use of the landfill site in their vicinity saying the government had not fulfilled their demands in the past as well.

Collection of garbage has been obstructed in Kathmandu valley since the past two weeks due to the protest of the local people at the landfill site area.

Over 400 tons of solid waste is generated in Kathmandu metropolis a day. nepalnews.com pb Feb 20 07