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Write to: The Editor, Arusha Times, P.O. Box 212, Arusha. E-mail: arushatimes@habari.co.tz Is this the way forward for Arusha?I am told Arusha has big plans in store for it. We are to have Malls, cinemas, hypermarketsY.. the works! Our road infrastructure has been somewhat improved. Our electricity and water services are ( or so we are told) being revised and updated. Our waste and sanitation too is now in private hands. The shops and flats on sokoine road are already having their waste / garbage collected, taken away and deposited out of town.So, are we truly on the road to a better , bigger, cosmopolitan city of Arusha? I walk home most days from work. I pass the Hindu Temple area, cross the bridge to come to the fire area. There used to be a time I looked forward to crossing the bridge. The sound of the gushing water passing below, the trees around giving a pleasant shade, with plenty of grass and shrubs surrounding the river area, and the houses above standing colonial and strong. It was a tranquil scene, one that epitomized Arusha for me. I no longer look forward to walking through this area. It is no longer tranquil. Once you reach the Temple, you see the first signs of a rubbish heap ahead. The land around the river has been cleared and ploughed (against the law, which prohibits ploughing near a river bank) for growing vegetables. There is litter sitting all around these small plots. The river still gushes, but its path is no longer blocked by stones and pebbles, but plastic bottles, shoes, plastic bags, tyres.. etc. The trees around have bags hanging on their branches and the shrubs around are littered with household garbage. Climb the small hill up to the houses and you see the reason. A rubbish dump has been started there. There is a large waste dump that is always overflowing and the rubbish surrounds it all around. There are flies, cockroaches and other insects (probably a good breading ground for germs too) feeding away on this. The stench carries on the breeze as do the insects. Every morning there are street children and beggars sifting through this waste, hence helping to spread and carry this waste even further. There are a few things I always think about when I see this scene.. 1. How healthy is it for all the pedestrians using this path every day! 2. The lack of sanitation is not only for the pedestrians but also a) for the people living in the nearby houses, and the little children growing up in those houses. b) The small farm plots growing vegetables etc. what diseases are they helping to spread. Do I buy those "bhoga's" from the market on some days? 3. The Hindu Temple has a hospital within its grounds. With this site just outside, how healthy is it for the recuperating sick? 4. Do the houses around have an increased pest infestation problem? 5. The houses around the whole area pay for their household garbage to be removed from the site. This garbage should be collected every day and transported away, to another dumpsite. However the dumpster is always overflowing and the garbage collection car is seen only irregularly. 6. Lastly, but probably not the least, is this the way forward for Arusha? Is this the health and sanitation we are looking forward to in town? You are probably wondering why I am writing this. Well Arusha is my town and I am proud of it and its achievements in the last few years. I also see it as a window of Tanzania to the world through our large tourist trade. I want to see Arusha grow from a town to a city, but to see it grow properly, with a good infrastructure to support the demands of the future. I want it to have an image of a clean nice city, preserving its natural beauty, before it's too late. Can we not be a little more environment conscious and avoid having waste heaps in town, In residential area's?! Can we not create compost heaps out of town in which waste is dumped, recycled to create fertilizer which can be resold or provided to the local small farmers or household gardeners? Can we not recycle our waste as done in other parts of the world? - Shamma Yusuf
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