Why Kampala is choking with garbage

A new report by the Auditor General blames transport shortage, the failure by Kampala City Council to regulate private garbage collectors among other shortcomings, for the uncollected tonnes of rubbish in Kampala City, as Benon Herbert Oluka writes.
Kampala continues to choke with uncollected garbage due to an inadequate number of vehicles to dispose refuse, poor law enforcement by city authorities and lack of awareness by the public, the Auditor General says in a new report released this month.
The report, titled ‘Solid Waste Management in Kampala,’ notes that out of the 1,200–1,500 tonnes of garbage estimated to be generated in Kampala per day, only 400–500 tonnes were collected yet KCC spends about Shs2.08 billion annually on solid wastage management.
“This implies that 60 per cent of the garbage generated daily is not collected and disposed, which has resulted into a public nuisance,” says the report. “The presence of uncollected garbage all over the city puts the lives of dwellers to the risk of environmental and human health related problems such as diseases and air pollution in form of offensive smell.”

Vehicle nighmare
The report, which has been submitted to Parliament and Kampala City Council, says among the major problems is failure by KCC to acquire the required number of vehicles needed to dispose off garbage due to poor performance. It adds that during the five financial years that were reviewed (2002/03–2007/08), KCC lacked a vehicle replacement policy.
“KCC and the divisions required on average 86-five tonnage lorries, disregarding the private sector contribution, to be able to collect and transport garbage from the city to achieve 100 per cent performance – on the assumption that each vehicle makes three trips per day. However, we noted that KCC and the divisions operated on average 35-five tonnage lorries, which was 40 per cent of the fleet required to enable prompt waste collections and disposal in the city,” says the report.

Consultant needed
“In the absence of the required number of vehicles to transport garbage, KCC and the divisions could not attain the 80 per cent required garbage collection performance level.”
The report adds that while a good fleet management system is supposed to keep vehicles in good condition to facilitate daily collection and transportation of refuse, constant breakdown of the vehicles has led to accumulation of uncollected garbage – with the worst hit areas being the market places in Nakawa, Kalerwe, Ntinda, Makindye and Kikuubo.
In their response to the queries raised by the Auditor General’s report, KCC management explained that the council is seeking the services of a consultant who would come up with a fleet management system that addresses aspects like replacement, handling and tracking of vehicles. They also explained that each division has acquired five new specialised rubbish trucks which compress and compact refuse for proper disposal. The Auditor General also noted that there was poor enforcement of solid waste management by-laws by KCC.
“Under the Solid Waste Management Ordinance, 2000, it is illegal and punishable to dump garbage in places where it may be or become a public health nuisance. These places include water bodies, public streets and the roadside. The responsibility to enforce these rules and regulations rests with KCC and the divisions,” the report further reads.
It says: “Cases of illegal dumping of garbage were noted at market places and despite the existence of a fully fledged enforcement department, KCC and the divisions were not enforcing the laws. This has caused unnecessary suffering to the neighborhood through air pollution and blockage of the drainage system leading to floods.”
The IGG’s report says while it is an offence to collect, transport, or dispose off garbage for a fee without a valid permit from KCC, a number of private garbage collectors are operating without permits.

Educate the masses
It says KCC needs to establish a proper mechanism for regulating the operations of private garbage collectors since some of those currently operating illegally have no capacity to collect and transport refuse to the landfill. Other activities that the Auditor General says should be addressed include proper planning and budgeting for waste management, education of the public on modern waste management, improving the working conditions of personnel in garbage collection, and ensuring adequate supervision, monitoring and control mechanisms.