Kathmandu, February 17:

Chief executive officer of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Dinesh Thapaliya today said the government should find a lasting solution to the valley’s never-ending problem of solid waste management.

“Short-term measures do not work to solve the problem of solid waste management in the valley as the problems keep resurfacing. Therefore, the government should come up with an effective and lasting solution,” Thapaliya said.

He said this while addressing an interaction on “Role of private sector on solid waste management” organised by NGO Federation of Environment Conservation (NGO-FEC) Nepal and Solid Waste Management Association Nepal.

He said only six per cent of the solid waste, including the waste that comes from the hospitals, needs to be permanently disposed of while other waste materials can be reused and recycled.

He also urged the government to frame laws to allow private sector to work for the management of solid waste in the country and also said the existing policies in this regard were insufficient.

Thapaliya also said the government create a network of all municipalities of the valley to manage solid waste here. He also stressed on the need to separate waste into degradable and non-degradable right from its source.

Environment activist Bhushan Tuladhar also focused on involving private sector in the solid waste management of the valley by using the existing policy. Presenting a paper on behalf of NGO-FEC and SWAMA, Dhan Prasad Acharya said the government should increase the number of transfer stations in the Kathmandu valley by making proper coordination with the municipalities and VDCs here.

Murari Subedi, president of SWAMA Nepal, said the government had failed to manage solid waste of the valley due to its inefficiency and the private sector should be allowed to manage solid waste.

He claimed that private sector can manage solid waste efficiently and that it can do the job with only 90 per cent of the budget which the Kathmandu Metropolis City spends on waste management.