By Charles K. Mark
Juba City Council has partnered with Central Equatoria Business Union (CEBU) to address cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation issues.
The partnership aims to develop effective waste management mechanisms, conduct civic education and explore policy frameworks for waste regulation.
Acting Mayor Emmanuel Khamis, before his removal from the office, emphasized the importance of investing in finding unique challenges and opportunities to ensure Juba City becomes clean, green and safe for all residents.
“All of us can agree that Juba City is dirty. It requires the collective responsibility of the government and all partners, including citizens, to ensure that it is clean,” Khamis said.
Khemis was speaking during the commencement of a two-day forum on inclusive waste management in Juba under the theme, “We all produce waste where do we dispose of them?”
Central Equatoria Business Union aims to raise awareness among citizens about waste management, focusing on individual, family and community roles, and its environmental and health impacts due to its high cost.
Thomas Muto Lo’Budha said the partnership with the Juba City Council is to develop an inclusive, sustainable waste management solution.
“And that is what we are aiming for as the Central Equatoria Business Union.”
Muto revealed that the business union will also work to help the City Council formulate a clear waste management policy available to all the city residents.
“We are looking into this from an economic perspective because there are solutions to waste that can be turned into something productive and helpful,” he said.
“So, the members of the private sector are here to come up with innovations so that waste cannot just be seen as a waste, but it can be seen as something that is an income-generating sector,” Muto explained.
Muto explained that the private sector is collaborating to develop innovative solutions that view waste as a waste and an income-generating sector.
“We believe that the small contribution that we are making makes an impact, and of course, it is not going to be only the contribution of one sector, one institution, or one entity. It is going to be a collective effort,” he added.
He said the union is eyeing how waste management can be monetized and turned into a money-making venture, adding that waste itself is a multi-million-dollar sector.
The manufacturing industry significantly contributes to global waste disposal, and South Sudan is not immune to this burden.
The Manufacturer’s Association of South Sudan has expressed readiness to assume extended producer responsibility and to take responsibility for the end supply of products.
“And with this, we’ve already approached a couple of donors, and we are working towards starting a plastic recycling plant,” Kennedy Kenyi Lodiong, Secretary General of the Association, told this outlet.
“Let there be consolidative measures. Let us come together, share ideas, and share ways in which we can work together in regard to achieving this particular initiative of keeping our environment clean,” Lodiong added.