Namibia’s only waste incinerator hit by burnout

THE waste incinerator at the Windhoek Central Hospital will be out of service for urgent repairs over the next three weeks.

The City of Windhoek announced the closure yesterday. It is the only hospital incinerator in Namibia, and medical waste from across the country is sent there to be incinerated.Only one of the two ovens at the incinerator has been operational for some years now, and sources at the Ministry of Health have said that this oven was unable to reach the required temperature to incinerate medical waste.Officials in the Ministry last year raised concerns over the fact that items such as beer bottles, cartons and food containers were all being sent to the incinerator, despite an agreement with a private refuse removal company to take care of such waste.The problem was attributed to staff at the hospitals who don’t properly sort waste into colour-coded refuse bags.Hospital waste removal works according to a colour scheme amputated limbs, for example, are disposed of in red bags, soiled linen, scalpels and syringes in green bags, and food leftovers in yellow bags.Last year, the Ministry discussed plans to build a new incinerator outside Windhoek, not only because of the inefficiency of the existing one, but also because of complaints of air pollution from people living nearby.The City of Windhoek’s public relations department was not available for comment yesterday.It is the only hospital incinerator in Namibia, and medical waste from across the country is sent there to be incinerated.Only one of the two ovens at the incinerator has been operational for some years now, and sources at the Ministry of Health have said that this oven was unable to reach the required temperature to incinerate medical waste.Officials in the Ministry last year raised concerns over the fact that items such as beer bottles, cartons and food containers were all being sent to the incinerator, despite an agreement with a private refuse removal company to take care of such waste. The problem was attributed to staff at the hospitals who don’t properly sort waste into colour-coded refuse bags.Hospital waste removal works according to a colour scheme amputated limbs, for example, are disposed of in red bags, soiled linen, scalpels and syringes in green bags, and food leftovers in yellow bags.Last year, the Ministry discussed plans to build a new incinerator outside Windhoek, not only because of the inefficiency of the existing one, but also because of complaints of air pollution from people living nearby.The City of Windhoek’s public relations department was not available for comment yesterday.