MARGAO
It’s around two months now since this middle-aged Margao Municipal Council worker employed for the solid waste management has been knocking the doors of Chief Officer, Johnson Fernandes, and the authorities concerned to post him in a section away from the daily collection of garbage.
Reason: Armed with a medical certificate, the worker claims he has been diagnosed of lung infection “ a common occupational hazard for workers employed in the waste collection and disposal sections. That the Margao Municipal Council has not treated the employee’s application for transfer to some other section with urgency is one thing, but the episode has only brought to the fore the susceptibility of the municipal workers employed on the waste collection and disposal fronts to diseases linked to lung infections, respiratory system and skin ailments.
Sources in the know say that many a municipal worker engaged in the work of garbage collection and disposal in the past had opted for retirement on health grounds after being hit by respiratory and lung ailments. MMC babus and city fathers may seek to wash their hands off the situation by claiming that the workers are entitled for a garbage allowance of Rs 1,200, besides the Rs 6000 medical allowance.
That’s not all. Workers engaged in solid waste management may be entitled for reimbursement of hospitalization charges in certain procedures, as claimed by Union leader Anil Shirodkar, but the question that has remained unanswered is “ whether these categories of municipal employees are relatively free from exposures to certain health problems by virtue of their occupation.
Consider this. MMC garbage workforce comprises around 70-odd workers “ around 33 permanent and 38 temporary -- engaged for collection and transporting of waste to Sonsodo. In addition, the Margao civic body has roped in around 109 daily wage workers for door-to-door waste collection. Incidentally, while the permanent workers are entitled for medical and garbage allowances, temporary workers have no such provision though they put in equal, if not more, amount of work, than their counterparts on the rolls of the civic body.
Gloves, face masks and gumboots are the three body gears that are essential for these workers on duty. Sadly, MMC has not ensured to see that both permanent and daily wage workers have these essential body wear.
Inquiries by The Goan at the MMC sanitation section revealed that the civic body had procured around 70 gloves in December last. How this quota of gloves will suffice to meet the requirements of the close to 200 workers engaged in solid waste management is indeed a million-dollar question. And, officials could not dish out any record to show the last procurement of face masks and boots for the garbage collection workers, indicating that the civic body has not paid much attention to these requirements.
Says MMC sanitary inspector, Viraj Arabekar, who has been heading the sanitation section for over a decade and half: “I cannot state with certainly the number of garbage workers affected by lung ailments or respiratory diseases over the years. But, workers engaged in waste collection and disposal had in the past complained of these diseases.” Inquiries have further revealed that there’s no periodic medical check-ups arranged for the garbage workers by the civic body, though the medical measures may help in early detection of the effects of working with garbage.
