By: Agnes Shekupe Shivute

The biggest events and feasts are hosted here in the villages: weddings, family reunions, and funerals among other gatherings – generating a substantial amount of waste to the environment.

Unfortunately, villages have no red or green drums or containers to collect the waste. They just end up littered all over for ages.

Let us look at the weddings because this is where the real waste is produced.

I am not talking about food waste but the things in which food, drinks and other disposable items for the weddings are packaged. There is nothing like food waste in the village. By the way, we own pigs and dogs that are luckily not allergic to any of our leftovers.

Reasonable weddings are planned events unlike funerals; weddings are planned for years in most cases if not months.

Until the big day, we keep buying so at least no one says they did not get a drink which is a major contributor to waste.

Waste simply refers to any substance whether solid, liquid or a combination thereof which might be residual yet deemed useless and unwanted hence discarded or abandoned in/on the ground.

In our modern days, a wedding is not a wedding if there is no sign of liquor bottles.

We hereby offer an apology to the ancestors with regard to the aforesaid as the crop fields are no longer producing as it should be. Credit goes to the climate change phenomena and Namibia is at the top of most affected countries.

It is a fair win, however, the waste generated in rural communities bu such gathering remains a concern.

Urban areas have dustbins and the town council or municipality comes to collect them from the front of your yard if not from the big yellow metal bins at every corner of a suburb.  The waste is then transported to the dumping sites for burning or  disposal as per town procedures.

In rural areas, in villages to be specific, it is the responsibility of every homestead to see how to best dispose of their waste.

You decide whether you dig a hole and just dump it there, whether you burn it or simply dump it wherever you feel like you want to dump it.

I would say it all depends on your thinking.

Household waste is normally better manageable as compared to the waste produced at the cuca shops.

One cider bottle here, a juice carton there, and Nik Naks packs over there.

An over-decorated Christmas tree that did not choose to be flat on the ground.

Then there comes a bus driving through your village and stops somewhere to just drop the waste accumulated throughout the road trip. In their full thinking capacity do they see this as normal?

It is probably not an act that bothers these individuals in particular until one of their own or a relative’s livestock dies after eating a plastic bag.  It is only then that such individuals can relate to the danger of throwing waste wherever they please.

The prices of plastic bags in shops have increased. The other question is: who collects this levy?

We might as well politely further inquire about the plastic levies contribution to rural communities as part of this country.

The heaps are visible in every surrounding in the proximity of cuca shops and these sceneries are our new colourful mountains. Even though not as high as Kilimanjaro, they are visible.

The festive season is here and more festive events mean we’re adding to the heights of these heaps.

It is impossible to ignore the absence of an active waste management strategy within rural communities. I am convinced the traditional authorities have a responsibility to ensure that communities are kept clean but evidently there is a lack of customary law on waste management.

I acknowledge that homesteads are sparsely located. However the Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism can and may intervene to create a waste management plan for rural communities even if it means introducing rural waste management officers.

There are sufficient graduates to take up the responsibility to ensure our villages are kept clean.

One of the responsibilities is linking business owners with recycling companies and to arrange days when recyclable materials can be collected collectively at settlement areas.

Another great investment would be biodegradable packaging perhaps.

Innovators can look into that as business ideas to start businesses. I would highly recommend the environment ministry as the custodian to act on this before it is too late.

Pollution does not necessarily need to be caused by waste. However,  in this case scenario we are headed there with no doubt.

Waste is a threat to human health, plant and animal health. Therefore, waste management is crucial  and handling of waste in rural communities remains a major concern. Email: aggyshivute@gmail.com