What You Need to Know
Residents of Rothe are expressing mixed feelings about the government’s decision to relocate the Ts’osane dumping site to their area. While the Ministry of Local Government has allocated funds for the stabilization and rehabilitation of the site, many locals are concerned about the potential health risks and environmental impact of having a landfill nearby.
Africa-Press – Lesotho. Though the government through the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, POlice and Home Affairs has allocated M20 million to the Maseru City Council (MCC) to stabilize, rehabilitate and close Ts’osane dumping site, Rothe community where the Ts’osane dumping site is being relocated to have mixed feelings regarding the move.
The current Ts’osane dumping site is being relocated to Rothe as Ts’oeneng Sanitary Landfill, something that the residents feel that is unfair that garbage is moved from Ha-Ts’osane where it has for years impacted on the health, environment and social well-being of the community.
The sanitary landfill is an engineered facility that separates and confines waste. Sanitary landfills are intended as biological reactors in which microbes will break down complex organic waste into simpler, less toxic compounds over time.
One Mrs. ‘Mamosebi Mokhele said they still do not understand why the dumping site which has posed health risks including air, water and soil-borne diseases for the Ts’osane community for years is being moved to their area where they are far from services such as hospitals, fire and rescue station in case fire broke as it did at Ha-Ts’osane.
She said, “The government cannot move garbage from Maseru and bring it here, we are not going to live like the Ha-Tsosane community in a stinking environment”…
The Ts’osane dumping site has been a source of health and environmental concerns for the Ha-Ts’osane community for years. The government’s decision to relocate the site to Rothe has sparked a debate about the fairness of moving waste from one community to another, especially given the potential risks involved. Residents fear that the new location will replicate the issues faced by their neighbors, including exposure to air, water, and soil-borne diseases.
Sanitary landfills are designed to manage waste in a way that minimizes environmental impact. However, the concerns raised by the Rothe community highlight the challenges of waste management in urban areas, where the proximity of landfills
