YANGON City Development Committee has launched a project to upgrade the city’s garbage collection system.

The launch of the project followed the establishment of a YCDC cleaning and beautification committee on June 17 to plan ways to improve the system’s efficiency.

The committee’s secretary, U Lin Tun Myint, told Myanmar Times the launch of the project was timely because the rainy season placed the system under extra pressure.

One of the objectives of the project was to ensure that garbage was not dumped on the capital’s streets, said U Lin Tun Myint, who also heads the YCDC’s pollution control and cleansing department.

The YCDC’s departments of gardens and playground parks, engineering (roads and bridges), health and security, and discipline, are also involved in the project, he said.

Closer coordination among the departments and a more concerted effort to encourage residents to respect regulations against littering would help to remove deficiencies in the system, U Lin Tun Myint said.

The YCDC wanted to provide the public with the best possible system, he said.
As a first step under the project, the frequency of garbage collections in the six downtown townships by workers using carts who ring bells to alert residents of their presence has been doubled since late last month.

“This helps residents to more easily dispose their household waste and reduces the volume of garbage dumped in garbage cans,” U Lin Tun Myint said.

“The frequency of collections in the other 27 townships is targeted to be gradually increased by the end of August,” he said.

The department will also increase the frequency of collections from concrete bins and garbage cans throughout the city.

“Previously we collected garbage from the bins and cans at night and early in the morning, but we will introduce another collection during the day,” U Lin Tun Myint said.

This would help to prevent the bins and cans from becoming overloaded, he said.

In another change to take effect from August, garbage trucks which currently operate at night will begin a day-time service and will also operate on all roads. The trucks have been operating only on roads not served by the cart and bell workers.

To cope with the extra workload the pollution control and cleansing department would add another 300 staff to its workforce of 3000, U Lin Tun Myint said.

He said the department had been relying on 150 garbage trucks but would bring its entire fleet of 200 vehicles into operation by the end of August.

In a related move, U Lin Tun Myint said the department had begun converting the fleet to run on compressed natural gas. About 50 vehicles had been converted so far.

“As well as helping to control pollution, it would also resolve limitations on garbage collection services due to our fuel quota,” U Lin Tun Myint said.

Departmental figures show that Yangon produces about 1440 tons of garbage a day, of which about 80 per cent is sent to garbage dumps at Hlaing Tharyar, Thaketa and North Dagon townships.

Another 10 per cent goes to recycling plants and the rest is collected by scavengers.

Yangon residents are charged a daily garbage collection tax of K2.