By KT Reporter
Anaka General Hospital in Nwoya District is relieved after piles of accumulated medical wastes were on Wednesday removed for safe disposal, thanks to the intervention of a consortium of oil and gas sector players.
The intervention comes after the hospital was left stranded for two months unable to transport hazardous medical wastes for incineration to Nakasongola district due to financial constraints.
The cleanup of the facility was carried out as part of the World Environment Day celebration organized by the Oil and Gas sector players that included Total Energies Uganda, CNOOC Ug Ltd, Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), Uganda National Oil Company, and East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). It was hosted in Anaka Town Council with the event focusing on plastic waste management, environmental conservation, and health safety.
Jolly Joe Lapat, the Executive Consultant of Anaka Hospital told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that ever since the funding cut from a USAID funded project in December last year, the hospital hasn’t had an effective waste disposal means.
He noted that they had been occasional piling up medical wastes from the laboratory, wards and maternity unit which had for the last two months overwhelmingly accumulated in the hospital storage facility, raising serious public health concerns.
Lapat expressed gratitude for the support extended by the consortium of oil and gas sector players for clearing the backlog of the medical wastes that had accumulated for the last two months. He however noted that for sustainability of medical waste management, the hospital is finalizing the installation of its incinerator whose establishment was also affected by the aid cut from USAID.
Through the intervention, the oil and gas sector players also refurbished the hospitals water system and constructed new handwashing facilities which had been non functional for the last eight years.
Jane Mbabazi Byaruhanga, the Manager Environment and Social Affairs at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) noted that the annual oil and gas sector players commemorate the World Environment day with a commitment to conserve the environment.
Byaruhanga noted that this year’s celebration in Nwoya district focused on combatting wastes within the hospital and Anaka Town council which was a call made by the district leadership owing to medical waste management challenges.
She noted that the oil and gas sector players besides combatting plastic waste pollution and management, are also continuously committed in ensuring proper management of other waste products in the oil and gas sector according to set national and international standards.
“As the sector, we shall always ensure that we handle all the waste and manage it according to the standards that are set both internationally but also nationally,” she said.
Christopher Omara, the Nwoya District Resident District Commissioner lauded the oil and gas sector players for the generosity they extended to the district in supporting both domestic and medical waste management.
Omara however noted that despite availability of resources to manage waste efficiently, corruption tendencies by responsible officers has overtime affected success of managing waste using the local and national financial resources.
During the celebration, the oil and gas sector players handed 27 garbage containers to Anaka Town Council for waste management and conducted cleaning exercises within Anaka town council.
The Annual World Environment Day was launched by the PUA and other licensed oil companies operating in the country in June 2023 focusing on environmental safeguards for the oil and gas sector. So far celebrations have been held in Hoima city and Kakumiro district, with Nwoya district being the third to host-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
