Somalia Waste Management and Disposal Providers
Urban water supply and sanitation and solid waste management is
the mandate of the respective municipalities under the Ministry of
Natural Resources. Data on water and sanitation coverage is very
limited with only 3 surveys and an additional partial inventory of
water sources across Somalia under SWALIM project having been
carried out in the recent past.
Nationally, only 23% of the population has access to sanitation
facilities with access rates of 52% in urban centers and only 6% in
rural areas (World Development Indicators 2010).
Mogadishu
In Somalia the local government or Benadir Administration
collects transports and disposes waste materials from the city.
Waste management differs in the urban areas from that of the rural
area, as there are more people in the rural area in comparison to
the city. This is done in order to minimize harm to individual’s
health as well as the environment. In Somalia there is no
distinction of the nature of waste; whether solid, liquid or any
other form; waste will be considered as waste and dumped in the
dumping sites.
In Mogadishu, apart from the local government, the Ministry of
Natural Resources and environment deals with the identification of
the dumping locations, there are two big dumping locations in
Mogadishu one situated in Medina district while the other one is
located in Karan district. These two dumping places are the
official places to dump the wastes that are collected from the
different districts of Mogadishu. The names of the two dumping
sites are:
- Qashinweyne in Karan
- Kaawo in Madina
For the last two years the Turkish Government has been assisting
the Banadir administration with waste collection. The Turkish
government is accountable for the entire process.
Recycling: No recycling is practiced in Mogadishu.
There are cleaning companies that operate in certain compounds.
They clean regular trash from such areas and dispose waste in the
respective places. Afterwards, the Turkish and Banadir
Administration take the wastes to the dumping sites.
Waste Disposal - Non Hazardous
All garbage and rubbish collected from major cities and towns are dumped in large holes dug several kilometres away from the town and lacking a separation process of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, instead all are dumped in one place which is not environment friendly. There are tankers, which collect and dump waste water outside the city.
Waste Disposal - Hazardous
Mogadishu has big industries that produce hazardous wastes that are harmful to humans, however foreign companies have been observed to be dumping hazardous waste along the ocean. There are rules and regulations that forbid dumping of used motor oil in to the sea or near the ports. Violators are heavily fined and ordered to clean up. Friendly countries and international organization have been assisting Somalia to monitor and prevent the dumping of wastes until the government gets the capability of tackling these problems.
Somaliland
Waste is mainly collected in dumping holes dug outside the towns
and cities. The local Berbera Municipality organizes and collects
the waste and has two big dumping sites outside the town.
Hargeisa has two companies named DHIS Waste Management and
Sabawanag Waste Management who collect the waste from the city and
their temporary dumping sites located within the town as shown in
the below photo. Hargeisa Municipality has four dumping sites for
burning garbage, which are about seven kilometres outside the
city.
In general Somalia does not have a recycling programme in place therefore two commonly used materials like plastic bags and bottles are dumped or sometimes burned.
For information on Somalia Waste disposial contact details, please see the following link:
4.1 Somalia Government Contact List
