Lilongwe City Council reopens Central Poultry
Lilongwe City Council has reopened Central Poultry in Area 36 three days after it was closed due to poor waste management which posed a threat to the fight against cholera.
On Tuesday last week, the city’s mayor Richard Banda ordered the closure of the company for operating a dumpsite used for compost without following procedures, according to a letter from the council dated January 3 2022.
Reads the letter: “Please stop using the centre as a compost-making site with immediate effect until when proper procedures are followed [i.e. to prepare a project brief and submit the same to Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources or Environmental Affairs Department for approval before establishing the compost-making centre or waste station] and that approval is granted, your company should come up with standard designs for waste transfer stations in line with Lilongwe City Council guidelines and standards.”
After an inspection tour on Friday, Lilongwe City Council deputy director responsible for preventive health Jorlex Kantokoma said Central Poultry has stopped using the dumpsite for chicken waste.
“Chicken waste attracts a lot of flies. When we visited the company, we found a lot of flies and that was a fertile ground for the spread of cholera. We asked them to destroy the structures. We now expect them to submit a project brief to the council,” he said.
Central Poultry chief executive officer Mike Davis said they decided into the place to be a compost centre instead of just dumping waste.
We thought this was the right way, unfortunately, we found ourselves in conflict with the law and we need to comply. We will continue to do what we have been asked to do and at the same time, we have submitted our application [project brief] to relevant offices,” he said.
