Stakeholder meeting in Zanzibar to discuss revision/formulation of municipal byelaws on 30th May, 2018

A half-day stakeholder meeting was jointly organised by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Zanzibar Environmental Management Authority (ZEMA) on 30^th May, 2018 in Hotel Maru Maru, Stonetown, Zanzibar to discuss the revision of municipal byelaws in Zanzibar. 

The meeting was inaugurated by Abdallah Hassan Mitawi, Deputy Principal Secretary (PS), Second Vice President’s Office, Zanzibar and Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE, India. “Around 208 TPD of waste is generated daily in Zanzibar, only 40-45 per cent  of which is collected, thus waste and its management is a crucial issue for us,  the Deputy PS said in his welcome address.  “Waste is our problem and we must act now before it is too late. Zanzibar is taking a step towards it by ensuring the replication of Shaurimoyo decentralised  pilot across the island, as well as  by working on policy based on pollutor pay principle to minimize environmental impacts”, he further added. 

The meeting was attended by 24 officials from five Municipal Councils of Zanzibar— West A, West B, North A, North B and Urban, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Land, Resources and Environment, Department of Urban and Rural Planning, Zanzibar Urban Services Project (ZUSP) Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors (ZATI) and journalists.

Sessions:
The following sessions were taken during the meeting:  

• Need for adoption of solid waste management (SWM) byelaws and integrated policy in Zanzibar:In this session, Swati Singh Sambyal, Programme Manager, CSE briefed the participants on the ongoing interventions on waste management carried out by CSE, ZEMA and the urban municipality. She addressed upon the need for adoption of SWM byelaws and integrated policy in Zanzibar in context with decentralised waste management and the ongoing work in Shaurimoyo where 200 households are segregating at source, dry waste is channelised for recycling and wet waste is being composted. She highlighted the need for this pilot to be replicated across all municipal councils of Zanzibar. 

• Review of byelaws: The municipal councils and departments present in the meeting reviewed the byelaws and gave their inputs. 

Recommendations:
Sheha Mjaja, Director General, ZEMA summaried the key points discussed in the meeting. The following major action points were recommended for revision of byelaws and replication of pilot:

• Replication of Shaurimoyo pilot in different municipal councils: All municipal councils to identify areas for replication of Shaurimoyo pilot based on segregation, recycling and reuse. It was agreed upon the fact that decentralised technologies will shift the focus from waste collection to dumping to waste collection to processing. This will also ensure cleanliness in Zanzibar, considering the economy of the island is majorly dependent on tourism. Also, this is an economically viable option rather than spending millions of money on collection and disposal. Councils can make revenue from sale of compost (has a direct market in agricultural farms) and recyclable dry waste.
• Revision of existing byelaws: It has been agreed upon to work together to revise the existing municipal byelaws with major emphasis on segregation, recycling and reuse. A template has been circulated by CSE for the same. Municipal councils to get back with their recommendations/comments. CSE shall further follow up with all municipal councils on the same. ZUMC to put the revised byelaws template into the format used by local municipal councils. CSE-ZEMA shall follow up on the progress of the same.
• Mobilization of community through awareness programme: Community involvement is a must for solid waste management. All municipal councils to take individual initiatives to focus on raising awareness to reduce littering in their areas.
• Inclusion of public private partnership (PPP) model in process of waste collection: To strengthen collection systems, councils can look into engaging with private party.
• Quarterly meeting with working group members: ZEMA to establish a mechanism of organizing quarterly meeting with all municipal councils to track progress of work. The working group shall comprise of Directors of all Municipal Councils/Districts in Zanzibar, ZUSP, Commission of Lands, Department of Urban and Rural Planning, ZEMA, DoE and CSE.