By Makutu Manneh
The Ministry of Health has laid a foundation stone for the construction of a Clinical Waste Treatment Centre (CWTC) worth D37 million at Farato, West Coast Region.
The waste treatment centre is meant to treat waste generated in health facilities by microwave disinfection which is said to reduce the waste to at least 20 percent. The building of the centre is to be completed within four (4) months.
Health officials say there would be no harmful emissions because the air treatment vessel would disinfect the airflow preventing smaller particles from spreading out.
The minister of health, Dr Ahmed Lamin Samateh, said The Gambia has for years disposed of used materials from hospitals to dumpsites in communities.
He said the disposal of such materials made it unsafe for individuals going to dumpsites, saying this is why they came up with a solution to build a centre where waste generated in hospitals will be treated.
Dr. Samateh said they are expecting four trucks which would be used for collecting waste from hospitals.
“Hospital waste and waste of the communities will never be mixed again once this project is launched,” he said.
The minister also disclosed that in the same land at Farato, his ministry will also build a national blood bank centre, emergency treatment centre of 100 beds and the new national reference laboratory for the Gambia as well as the new teaching hospital in the Gambia.
Lamin Darbo, Chief of Kombo South, said they are honoured to have such a centre in their region. He also commended the health ministry and World Bank for the initiative.
