Locals protest over garbage
Motorists drive through garbage dumped in the middle of a highway in Mubende Town on Wednesday.
PHOTO BY JOSEPHINE NNABBAALE
What you need to know:
Grievance. Mubende residents accuse authorities of taking long to collect the garbage, hence affecting their businesses.
Mubende. Residents of Mubende Town on Wednesday paralysed traffic on Kampala -Fort Portal highway for several hours, protesting uncollected garbage.
The locals dumped garbage in the middle of the highway, which prompted police to intervene. Police beat up residents who were found putting the removed garbage back in the road.
“Residents have their concerns, but they are not supposed to inconvenience motorists who are travelling. If they wanted to express their disappointment, they could have taken the garbage to the municipality offices not the highway,” Mr Alex Wabwire, the district police commander, said.
Mr Simon Mukasa, a trader, accused the municipal administration of failing to collect garbage or clean the streets for close to two months.
“The situation has become unbearable and we have lost customers due to the awful smell and flies emanating from heaps of uncollected garbage,” Mr Mukasa said.
The acting town clerk, Mr Emmanuel Ssempala, admitted the problem but blamed the uncollected garbage on the breakdown of the municipal’s disposal truck.
He said the truck has been repaired and the problem would be addressed.
This comes days after residents in Lyantonde Town also threatened to demonstrate over uncollected garbage. Lyantonde Town authorities claim they lack money, saying the monthly revenue collections from taxi operators have not been received for four months.
