Kathmandu, September 26:

Taking into account the problems municipalities often face over management of solid waste, the government has decided to form a legal base to deal with garbage problems nationwide.

The Solid Waste Management Bill (SWMB) is being drafted at the Ministry of Local Development (MLD), which is going to set up a high-level centre to govern all garbage-related issues, an official at the Ministry said.

This bill, which is presently under discussion among government officials and other stakeholders, will eventually replace the existing Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Act 2044.

“This act is going to identify solid waste management as an essential service and those who are involved in staging strikes and obstructing the management of solid waste will be punished accordingly. It will help the local bodies punish the problem creators,” said Baburam Gautam, member-secretary of the task force that has been given the task of drafting the bill.

The SWMB will enable the ministry to set up a Sold Waste Management Centre to support the local bodies technically, monitor and evaluate the solid waste management and provide suggestions to the government.

The centre will have a council headed by the minister for local development. It will have representatives from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Ministry of Health and Population, Ministry of Finance, Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, District Development Committee Federation, Municipal Association of Nepal, Federation of Village Development Committees and three other experts. It will employ an executive director of the centre who will be deputed as the member- secretary of the council.

“The centre will draft policies and programmes on garbage management, collect data, and provide consultancy to local bodies,” he said.

The bill will strengthen the local bodies and will enable them to slap charges on those who produce garbage. “On top of it, industrial, commercial and educational institutions, hospitals and nursing homes will have to take care of the solid waste they produce. While managing the solid waste, they will have to follow the technologies that meet the government standard,” he said.

The local body will be authorised to identify a place as a transfer station. It will also fix sanitary landfill sites with the government’s permission. The SWMB will also restrict and regulate the role of private parties. It will prohibit people from collecting, transporting and disposing, using or reusing solid waste without the government’s permission. The local body can call proposals to execute above-mentioned tasks under the government’s guidance. The UN-HABITAT will provide technical support for finalising the draft.