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Al Buraimi suffers from carcass, waste pollution

MUSCAT: Some waste dumps in the Sultanate are being used to throw dead animals, causing serious health hazards for people who live near them. Several residents of Khadra Al Saih in the wilayat of Al Buraimi have complained about such "misuse" of waste dumps.

Abdullah Musallam from Khadra Al Saih says, "These dumps were used earlier to throw household waste but nowadays they are being used to discard dead animals. There is no proper monitoring being done by the concerned authorities. We can also see large amounts of wastes from cow farms being thrown daily into the dumps."

He adds that, of late, the number of dead cows being thrown into the dumps have increased alarmingly. "There is a stink emanating from these dumps which is effecting the whole residential area, especially when there is wind blowing in the direction of the residential areas," he said.

Though the 'cow dump' is located on a high area, it is just about 1.8 kilometres from the residential area.

Another resident Ahmed Al Shamsi says, "Besides the stink, there is a carbonic substance emanating from one of the sanitary services here in Buraimi. This substance comes in the form of charcoal black grains and causes eye and skin allergy."

The residents have started questioning the authorities: Will concerned authorities in Buraimi governorate take the decision to get rid of this dump? And will it penalise those who throw the carcass near residential area?

Residents of Khadra Al Saih hope that the concerned authorities would help them with some action soon.

According to the website of the Directorate General of Health Affairs, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, two WHO research projects entitled 'Environmental Health Monitoring to Identify Sources of Lead Exposure and Impact on Health Status of Population' and 'Environmental Monitoring and Assessment of Potential Health Risks in Populations Near Waste Dumping Sites' have been carried out by the staff of Poison Control Centre.

The results of the lead study indicated that 6.58 per cent of children in study population of 334 (7-11 years) had blood lead values above the acceptable levels and 25 per cent of children had blood lead levels (BLL), indicating that children are being exposed to lead in the environment. Further studies are required to explore the sources of exposure in home environment, risk factors and health effects of lead exposure especially in children who are less than six years old.

Another WHO study on 'Environmental monitoring and assessment of potential health risks near waste dumping sites' was conducted, to evaluate the adverse health effects related to environmental factors amongst populations around waste dumping sites of Al Ansab and Al Amerat and the surrounding villages.

The study was done in 26 villages comprising 398 study households in two wilayats of Muscat. The total study population was 4,240. The results indicated that the respiratory problems, dermatitis, and conjunctivitis were common in the populations around Oman's waste dumping sites. The environmental factors responsible could be high air levels of sulphur dioxide and high levels of organochlorines in the soil detected in these areas.

However, further well-controlled studies, taking into account the confounding factors, are necessary to substantiate these preliminary findings.

By Fahad Al Mukrashi

© Times of Oman 2010