By STEVEN ZANDE –
THE Turkish government has pledged to continue helping Zambia achieve strong economic development that will help improve the living standards of the people.
Turkish Ambassador to Zambia Sebnem Incesu said this in Lusaka during a waste management training workshop.
“This workshop is another demonstration of Turkey’s willingness to help Zambia develop its waste management systems,” Ms Incesu said.
She said Turkey’s assistance to Zambia included areas such as agriculture, tourism and housing and now her country was targeting to build human capacity to help improve service delivery in the nation.
Ms Incesu expressed confidence that the workshop would create a base for future cooperation in solid waste management between Zambia and Turkey.
Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection Permanent Secretary Ed Chomba said Zambia was currently generating 800,000 tonnes annually and this was predicted to increase to 3 million by 2020.
Bishop Chomba said this presented challenges and opportunities for people to create wealth from the garbage by recycling the solid waste.
“To sustainably manage the projected increase in waste generation, Government in conjunction with stakeholders is promoting innovation and research in waste management which includes accelerating reduction and reuse of waste,” he said.
Bishop Chomba said the training would help expand Zambia’s ability to create adequate laws to police waste disposal and help citizens develop capacity to generate wealth from the garbage.
He said called on more Turkish waste recycling firms to consider investing in Zambia’s waste sector.
The Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TICA) in Zambia has partnered with the Zambia Environmental Agency (ZEMA) to train selected organisations and individuals in solid waste management.