6. Functions of Department

Subject to the control of the Minister, the functions of the Department shall be to-

(a) provide policy direction and leadership in all matters pertaining to sanitation and waste management;

(b) enhance sectoral co-ordination by developing plans and programmes to guide the different sectors in the performance and discharge of their duties and closely monitor the work of the sectors;

(c) develop effective communication flow between the stakeholders in sanitation and waste management and the public by instituting and maintaining a pro-active public awareness campaign;

(d) ensure that implementation of sanitation and waste management projects is strategically designed to derive maximum benefit at minimum cost, accompanied by effective cost recovery policies;

(e) provide reliable information for the support of both urban and rural sanitation and waste management development;

(f) institute appropriate sanitary measures for the promotion of public health;

(g) promote and co-ordinate human resources development and institutional capacity within the local authorities to effectively implement sanitation and waste management programmes;

(h) promote and facilitate economic sustainability in sanitation and waste management;

(i) train and assess for competence waste management officers and supervisors;

(j) register persons who manage controlled waste;

(k) register and license waste carriers, waste disposal sites and waste management facilities;

(l) require and monitor the collection, disposal and treatment of controlled waste by local authorities and waste management industries in the private sector, in accordance with such standards as may be prescribed;

(m) institute a consignment control system of controlled waste and approve waste carrying vehicles, packaging and labelling of waste carried on the vehicles;

(n) monitor the trans-boundary movement of controlled waste;

(o) make arrangements for hazardous waste, of a kind as may be specified, to be separated from other types of waste in its collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal;

(p) recommend to the Minister the appointment of committees to conduct technical research and other development studies for the purpose of assisting the Department realise its objectives;

(q) restrict or prohibit waste management operations in or near rivers, ponds, lakes or underground water without adequate engineering works agreed in writing by the Director;

(r) order the immediate closure of any existing waste management facility on the grounds of risk of pollution of the environment or harm to human, animal or plant life;

(s) cause land to be inspected from time to time to detect whether the condition of any part of the land is likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human, animal or plant life and to take such other steps as are necessary in regard thereto; and

(t) do all such other things as may be necessary to achieve the objectives of the Act.

7. Annual Report

The Director shall, on or before 31 March in each year, or by such other date as the Minister may allow, submit to the Minister a report on the activities of the Department in the preceding year.

8. Qualifications of officers and managers

(1) Officers of the Department and other persons monitoring or controlling waste management activities shall be fit and proper persons and shall hold such qualifications and such experience in the field of waste management as the Minister may, from time to time, direct.

(2) A person shall be considered a fit and proper person for the purposes of this Act if the person-

(a) has not been convicted of an offence concerned with environmental issues; and

(b) is technically competent to manage controlled waste.

(3) Any person who owns the means of waste management shall be required to have such financial resources as may be prescribed, to discharge his obligations under the licence granted:

Provided that the person who owns the means of waste management shall also be required to comply with the requirements of subsections (1) and (2), where such person is also engaged in the management thereof.