Trash-clogged creeks prompt Ramree CSOs to call for systematic garbage disposal

By DMG 01 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
1 June 2022, Ramree

Local civil society organisations (CSOs) in Arakan State’s Ramree have called for cooperation between concerned departments and residents in order to develop a proper garbage disposal system in the town. 

All of the creeks in Ramree including Tann Creek, the venue for a well-known traditional boat race, are littered with plastics and other garbage, said Ko Maung Htein from the committee that organises the Rammarwadi traditional boat race. 

“People tend to litter, and the government is not doing enough. What’s more, garbage trucks do not collect regularly. They sometimes don’t come, citing rising fuel prices. And there are few waste bins in public places. That’s why creeks are appallingly littered with waste,” he said. 

Community elder U Ba Hla said the garbage problem is getting worse year after year in Ramree. 

“I am concerned that creeks will get shallow because of the garbage. The mouth of Tann Creek is getting shallower compared with previous years. Local youths have dredged the creek with backhoes annually,” he said. 

Plastic bags and plastic water bottles make up a majority of the garbage dumped in local creeks, said U Ba Hla. 

An official from the township development committee said the municipality collects garbage with garbage trucks six days a week, and blamed the public for littering. 

“They simply dump garbage into creeks. We have also carried out education campaigns [to encourage people to dispose of waste properly]. But it is because of their littering that the creeks are filled with garbage,” said the official. 

According to a survey conducted by the Ramree Youth Network in 2020, ward residents said they were forced to dump their kitchen waste into creeks because garbage trucks did not come regularly.