First Lady and founder of Beautify Malawi, Getrude Mutharika Wednesday described the situation at Lilongwe dump site as pathetic.

Mutharika said this when she visited the dump site to appreciate the challenges Lilongwe City Council (LCC) is facing at the area.

“I am not happy with the situation here. We want the place to look beautiful. Beautify Malawi Trust works together with the councils to make sure that the city looks clean,” she said.

Mutharika then said the council has plans to remove the trash that has been dumped along the road to the dumping site and be dumped at the recommended place adding that this would also help improving the health of people living around the area.

Lilongwe City Council Chief Executive Officer, Moza Zeleza said his office is aware of the situation at the site, but attributed it to the current system of open dumping that the council uses.

Zeleza explains, “We are using the old system of rubbish dumping, but we are working on the long term plan solution where we will dig trenches and the rubbish will be deposited in there, after that the compact vehicle would come and compress the rubbish then we will cover the site with soil.”

He added that the system is used by most countries and is environmental friendly as they would also plant trees after covering the rubbish.

Zeleza said they have already acquired some of the equipment to use on the dumping site adding that they would also establish a new office site.

“We also have plans to establish a new office here at the site so that there is proper supervision that the rubbish could be dumped at a commended place,” he said.

The road to dumping site has been closed with wastes as a result private and city council vehicles fail to reach the commended site and dump the waste along the road.

The situation is really out of hand as the place stinks badly and since the area has no supervision, people have access to look for food and cook and eat at the place. (Mana)