By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Sept. 4: Calgary Nepalese Community Association Canada (CNCA) and C-19 RAT (COVID-19 Rapid Action Task Force) in coordination with Guthi have distributed food packages and hygiene kits to 200 families of sanitation workers of Kathmandu.
The sanitation workers were provided food packages and kits amidst a programme on Thursday.

Every day, the Kathmandu Valley generates around 1,200 tonnes of solid waste, of which 50 per cent comes from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City alone. All the waste generated in the cities is collected by these sanitation workers.
Even amid the pandemic, they were in duty every day. However, they were not provided with any safety gears and other facilities while working in such a difficult time.

They worked only with normal masks and gloves, said Prakash Amatya, Technical Advisor to Guthi.
He further said, "The government could not provide them with any facility, even free health care facilities. Moreover, many of the sanitation workers were paid only half of their wages.”
Bimal Kediya, a member of Constituent Assembly, donated Rs. 51,000 to the Independent Sanitation Worker Cooperative group stating that the group of the sanitation workers needed to be strengthened for improving their living standards.

Anju Deula, an informal sanitation worker, said that the COVID-19 pandemic affected her life badly.
Before the pandemic, she used to work at many places as a sanitation worker to sustain her life, said Deula. “But because of COVID-19, I am unable to get work in other places,” she added.
Mitra Ghimire, general secretary at the Solid Waste Management Association Nepal, an umbrella organisation of over 70 private garbage collection companies, said that the health ministry should provide safety measures to the sanitation workers.

“But the ministry said it could not provide safety measures to the garbage collectors even when doctors were not getting them,” Ghimire said.
Rameshwor Pokharel of the Waste Management Company said that the company could not hire staff and give them work for certain days and could not provide wages of the non-working days to the sanitation workers after the closure of the Sisdol landfill site.