Page 34 - be'ah_Annual report 2019-Final2_Neat

Controlling the Damage
of Legacy Practices
A traditional dumpsite is an open space of land
where waste is discarded in a harmful manner. Waste
is either dumped in piles, thrown in pits, buried
for burning purposes or exposed to scavengers.
Not only does this practice lead to soil and water
contamination, it adversely affects the health of
people residing in the area through air, water and
land borne infections. These dumpsites become the
breeding ground for pests.
Overall, they have a negative impact on the
environment, ecosystem, health and economy.
There were more than 300 dumpsites across
Oman, and these were contributing to significant
environmental damage. Hence, it became imperative
to take visionary measures to tackle the challenge.
A key focus for be’ah is to
develop strategies that lead to
environmentally sustainable
practices and minimize
the damage.
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The first step towards achieving this goal was to
stop use of traditional dumpsites as soon as the
infrastructure in the governorate or the nearest one
was ready for operations.
be’ah continues to follow this strategy as
it further expands its infrastructure.
By 2019-end, be’ah had almost completed the
takeover of MSW management operations across
the country. Now, all generated MSW is sent to
the 10 operational engineered landfills and all
dumpsites have stopped receiving MSW.
An analysis of dumpsites assessment data
identified a total of 40 major dumpsites across
Oman. Of these, 31 major ones have been closed
and cleaned up in governorates where be’ah
has taken over operations between 2013 till
the end of 2019. Dumpsites marked for closure
were prioritised using risk analysis approach
where impact on health and the surrounding
environment were critical deciding factors.