Kotte Solid Waste Management Strategy

managing the two specific areas of concern. The SWM unit will be led by municipalengineer and the environment unit will be led by the Medical Officer of Health.• Optimum decentralization of municipal operations: Municipal Council willrestructure the present SWM system to decentralize the operations and managementinto ward and lane committees. A wholly new image building exercise is necessary toimprove the public image of the staff engaged in solid waste collection and disposal.It is desirable even to change their designations from the old hackneyed ones to termslike Eco-Workers, Eco-Assistants and Eco-Managers. A subsidiary EnvironmentManagement Committee will be set up for each ward. The Council will takeimmediate steps to restructure the existing waste collection, disposal and processingfacilities and network them into a single system with private sector, informal sectorand the community as active partners.• Capacity-building for Decentralized EPM/SWM: SJKMC will take measures forinstitutional strengthening through induction of professionals, human resourcedevelopment planning and further decentralization of SWM administration anddelegation of powers to the private sector and local communities through their CBOs.The proposed organogram is a step in that direction.• Staff mobilization, training and education: the staff assigned to the two units onSWM and Environment will be given due orientation to the new strategy and will beconstantly exposed to new information on the subject. Training and exposure of staffwill receive special attention. A handbook will be compiled and distributed among allstaff members and partners in SWM detailing the guidelines and rules on (a)collection, (b) segregation, (c) mid-way storage, (d) transportation, (e) processing anddisposal of solid waste.• Strengthening the Municipal Standing Committee: The local authority will considerbringing in necessary changes to its statutory committee system to co-opt subjectspecialists and stakeholders to some of standing committees such as the one onHealth and Sanitation (Environment) to enlarge its scope and coverage as apermanent Working Group within the municipal system to oversee and improveSWM in the city.• Publication of an Annual Report on Status of City Environment: The MunicipalCommissioner and the Working Group proposed here will be enjoined by a resolutionof the Council to submit an Environmental Status Report annually to the Council withspecial reference to actions taken during the year to improve SWM quality andcoverage. The Report must be shared with the Central Environment Authority, theCommissioner of Local Government, and subject to a special debate in the Council.The debate must focus on the actions taken or not taken to implement the Sold WasteManagement Rules of the Government and the city SWM strategy. The relatedagencies will be encouraged to provide their comments and suggestions on the reportto help the Council decide on corrective and remedial actions necessary.