Omitara upset over years of uncollected trash

The acrid stench of smouldering plastic, rotting food, used nappies and human and animal faeces fills the air at Omitara settlement in the Omaheke region’s Okorukambe constituency. Rubbish is scattered outside the Omitara Clinic, Otjivero Combined School, homes and the church. Some piles burn in the open, while discarded nappies and other waste litter the ground where children play. This is the reality residents like Aaron Seibeb (43) have lived with for more than 20 years. “This is not right. I’ve been here for 23 years but it has always been like that,” he says. A heap of garbage lies in front of the Otjivero Clinic, where Seibeb claims waste has gone uncollected for more than 20 years. When reporters visited the clinic to inquire about the situation, a nurse expressed frustration over the persistent accumulation of rubbish outside the health facility.

“At least make the environment around the clinic clean,” Seibeb says. As a father of three, he says the situation poses health risks to children, who sometimes run barefoot around the waste. A visit to the community on Monday exposed large heaps of garbage scattered at almost every corner of a street. For residents like Sherline Tsous (43), the problem follows them into their yards, as dogs rummage through the rubbish and carry discarded nappies onto her property. “Imagine a dog coming with the nappy and just dumping it there,” she says. The frustration prompted residents to petition the Omaheke Regional Council chief regional officer Pecka Semba on Friday, demanding regular refuse collection. The petition was submitted through the Omitara Settlement Office. Lead petitioner Josef ||Gowaseb says the absence of designated rubbish dumping sites and regular refuse collection services has resulted in widespread illegal…