AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Government Chemist Laboratory Authority (GCLA) has directed waste management companies to separate normal waste from chemicals to avoid chemical accidents and health effects.
GCLA Chemical Inspector Emmanuel Lewanga said yesterday that some companies were improperly handling the waste by mixing them together.
“It’s not simple when it comes to disposing of waste.
The companies should register with GCLA and acquire licence,” he stated when speaking to trade officers in Ilala Municipal Council in Dar es Salaam at a seminar.
He told them to educate the waste management companies in the municipal council about proper handling of waste according to their categories.
“I ask you to be our ambassadors in raising awareness to those companies,” he appealed.
For his part, Mr Ziliwa Machibya, who is an officer with Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA), talked about the relationship between illegal drugs and chemicals.
He explained how precursor chemicals intended for industrial production could be used for making illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroine.
“We know that the precursor chemicals are legal when they are intended for manufacturing, but some traders may divert uses and use them for making drugs,” he said.
Mr Machibya told municipal trade officers to be careful when making trade registration facilitation to traders who wanted to engage in chemical business.
“You may unknowingly facilitate the production of illegal drugs if you are not careful. Be assured that the chemicals are only used for industrial production,” he cautioned.
He highlighted some of those precursors as ephadrine, potassium permanganate and others.
“Educate those traders so that they become knowledgeable and our country gets rid of such illegal businesses,” he said.
In his remarks, Ilala Municipal Director Jumanne Shauri told the officers not to allow traders to engage in chemical business without having a valid licence from GCLA.
