Waste Oil Disposal in Gadong, Brunei

COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING PROJECT

Problems:

Gadong is a major entrepreneurial area in Brunei, with many different kinds of shops and enterprises, including motor servicing companies. Unfortunately however, many of these motor servicing companies do not dispose of their waste properly. Pools of waste oil can be found along the drainage systems in Gadong. Black patches of oil sprawl across the roads. This is not only unsightly but also very unhygienic and sets a bad example for the future generation. Due to the nature of oil, a small quantity can do a lot of damage. For instance, just one liter of oil can render a million liters of water undrinkable.

Figure 1. Photographs showing spilt oil on roads and in drains in Gadong that has not
been cleaned up properly.

COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING PROJECT

Possible solutions:

The improper disposal of waste oil in Gadong can be reduced by ensuring that the public as well as members of staff of motor servicing companies are adequately educated about the safety hazards of waste oil and the methods of safe oil disposal. Further possible solutions would be to ensure that the guidelines of waste motor oil disposal are followed, and perhaps even improve the existing guidelines of waste motor oil disposal by making them more stringent. Waste oil should be recycled whenever possible. This has further benefits as the recycled oil can be used to make many different useful products such as hydraulic oil and bitumen based products.

COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING PROJECT

Figure 2, 3( on previous page) & 4. Photographs showing proper methods of oil disposal.

Actions taken:

Project members researched the methods of waste oil disposal and the extent of waste oil recycling in Brunei by carrying out library and internet research. Car workshop owners, customers and managers were interviewed. A questionnaire was developed which car workshop owners were asked to fill out during their interviews. Public awareness was raised through the media in several ways. Firstly, an appearance was made on a radio show, informing the public of the hazards of improper waste oil disposal and the proper methods of waste oil disposal. Secondly a news article was written that was featured in one of the local newspapers (however, the article was unfortunately misinterpreted as explained in the next section). The Department of Environment was asked to monitor motor servicing companies in their disposal of waste oil.