-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | | | | by visiting this link and following the instrucitons therein | | | | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOUTH GOANS LOOK AT AN ALPHABET-SOUP OF SOLUTIONS TO FIGHT GARBAGE
By Xavier Cota [EMAIL PROTECTED] Convenor, Betalbatim Civic & Consumer Forum It may sound like an alphabet soup. But from solutions like RRR (reduce, reuse and recycle), SAS (segregate at source) and PP (polluter pays), solutions could indeed emerge to Goa's vexatious garbage crisis. On Sunday, November 6, 2005, a workshop organised by GOACAN at BPS Club, Margao focussed on Waste Management for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Consumption. It threw up simple, people-friendly, workable solutions to a problem that has been building up over the years and has our politicians alternatively throwing up their hands in despair, scurrying on foreign jaunts "on study tours" or just throwing around crores of the tax-payers money by buying treatment plants that stop working after some time, or hiring firms that invariably disappear with impunity after skimming the cream of the contract. Hi-cost solutions envisioned are doomed to failure for two main reasons: Firstly, they are primarily not meant to solve problems, only to ensure kickbacks. And secondly, they do not seek to involve the people. Above all, they flout the spirit of decentralisation espoused by The Goa Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act 1996 and The Goa Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Rules 1997 within which any garbage management schemes ought to function. Over 80 representatives of NGOs, service clubs, parent-teacher associations and plain, concerned citizens of South Goa, attended this workshop which comprised eight useful sessions. Chief guest and Goa State Pollution Control Board chairman Dr. L.U. Joshi high-lighted the growing volume of hazardous waste. He also emphasised the need for segregation of garbage at source. Roland Martins, Goacan’s Coordinator and the prime mover of the workshop, then gave participants an overview of the workshop and why waste management was essential for environmental protection. He stressed on the fact that waste management and sustainable consumption is the responsibility of each and every citizen. He advocated involvement of people in their local municipal and panchayat garbage management committees. He said the stress should be on low-cost solutions. For this he advocated the three principles of -- RRR (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle), SAS (Segregate At Source) and PP (Polluter Pays). Martins stressed the need of an action plan, vigilance and proactive solutions by involving opinion leaders like committee members of PTAs, service clubs, housing societies and other bodies. Next session threw up a pleasant surprise as the young Clinton Vaz, member of Benaulim Environmental Trust, and the indefatigable activist, Panjim councillor Patricia Pinto put on an excellent audio-visual presentation on the dimension of the problem and the long way they have travelled on the road of sustainable solutions. They demonstrated that they were not mere good-intentioned preachers. What they were advocating, were solutions which they had standardised after working on them over long periods of backbreaking trial and heartburning error with their own resources. Clinton demonstrated the simplicity of SAS – Segregation At Source. From a bag of mixed garbage, he showed how to segregate: (a) organic and compostable waste like vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, soiled papers etc (b) recyclable waste like glass bottles, most plastics, metal scrap, milk sachets. (c) residual waste like batteries, medical waste, soiled plastic bags etc. The missionary duo showed how the first -- organic waste -- far from being a nuisance, was a rich source of garden fertiliser which could even be sold at a tidy profit if it was first sprayed with EM (effective micro-organism) solution available in Goa. This worked to remove the smell. Then, it needed to be subjected to vermi-composting, aerobic or unaerobic composting, which can easily be done in bungalow or housing society compounds and even in crates in individual flats. Recyclable waste is again not a problem in Goa, as there are many rag-pickers supplying material to scrap dealers. These can be contacted to collect from a locality on a regular basis provided residents are educated on the need for proper segregation. The residual waste which would now be reduced to a mere 10% of the original un-segregated garbage could then go to a land-fill site. Clinton disclosed that even this could be further reduced if current negotiations with Tetrapak manufacturers and others who should take responsibility for their products, succeed. Councillor Patricia Pinto explained how a cooperative officialdom and concerned activists working in tandem with a carrot and stick policy could change the mindset of people and work towards viable solutions. Participants then broke into groups. These groups which also helped strangers from different places and backgrounds get acquainted with each other, then discussed various aspects of the problem and each group drew up its action plan. Lunch provided another opportunity for participants to mix and exchange views. In the post-lunch session came a very useful slot, and participants from a common background were grouped together. Coastal villages which shared common problems like beach litter, tourism and hotel-generated wastes came together as did municipal area participants, whose problems were more of overflowing, stinking bins, gutters clogged with plastic bags, stinking markets etc. Regrouping after tea, one member representing each group then reported to the assemblage, the problems identified and the solutions they had come up with. Hitherto unknown problems like hazardous waste which was threatening marine-life like fire-fighting foam being dumped into the Sal River by a ship crew-training institute and the train-cleaning yard at Margao which was depositing filth into a tributary of the Sal came to the attention of the participants. Finally, the last session saw Roland Martins summarising the problems identified and the various action plans proposed. Since the overwhelming feeling of participants was for the momentum and enthusiasm generated by the workshop to be carried forward, he suggested that this could be done by having an awareness programme for the public in Margao. It was then agreed that on Saturday, November 19, 2005 a waste management awareness programme with an exhibition-cum-rally would be held with the participation of NGOs and other interested bodies and individuals. Several other programmes were mooted like a waste management week from November 19-26, a training programme for maids and other initiatives. The culmination of the National Environment Awareness Month with this year’s theme of solid waste management would be on December 19, 2005. After a vote of thanks by Dr. Arvind Almeida, participants went home, shoulders squared with the determination to do something and live up to the acronym of the organisers of the workshop Goa Civic and Consumer Action Network – Goacan. Because, as Coordinator Roland Martins put it, we were fed up of the pessimism of people who kept telling us "Goenkarankoddem zainam, Goans can't" -- we are here to tell them that Goa can! (ENDS) --------------------------------------------------------------- Tanzania-returned Xavier Cota is based in Betalbatim, and is convenor of the local civic and consumers' forum. He left his bank job early to take to his first love -- writing. He also is a translator of Konkani short stories into English. GOANET-READER WELCOMES contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the 7000-strong readership of the Goanet/Goanet-news network of mailing lists. If you appreciated the thoughts expressed above, please send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers write -- or share what they have written -- pro bono, and deserve hearing back from those who appreciate their work. GoanetReader welcomes your feedback at goanet@goanet.org --------------------------------------------------------------- Goanet, Building community, creating social capital since 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------