State and private hospitals in the capital will soon be provided with a modern Health Care Risk Waste (HCRW) treatment facility to cater for medical waste.

Public Participation Consultant of Matrix Consulting Services, Chris Ailonga told Nampa on Tuesday that the modern indoor plant will cater for medical waste from all hospitals with manageable pollution.

Ailonga said the project will be located on Erf 17/288 near the Namibia Traffic Information System (Natis) centre in the Northern Industrial Area. He said the facility is intended to counteract the effects of emissions emanating from the existing facility at the Katutura State Hospital. It will also handle the increased volumes of HCRW currently generated at Okahandja and Rehoboth.

“The Katutura State Hospital facility cannot cater for medical waste from all hospitals, and it has been on and off (operationally) due to technical problems,” he said.

Parsons Brinckerhoff Africa (Pty) Limited, in its capacity as the appointed Environmental and Social Consultant of the City of Windhoek will undertake an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the construction and operation of the facility.

The ESIA will assess the development of the waste treatment facility; the construction of a fuel depot with a total fuel capacity of 78 000 litres, as well as offices.

A public meeting is set for June 28, 2012 at the Hartlief Rooftop Bistro and Conferencing Hall in the Northern Industrial Area in the capital to brief members of the public and affected companies on the likely impact of the project.

Parsons Brinckerhoff Africa will conduct the meeting in collaboration with the City of Windhoek.

Source: allAfrica.com