Lubowa residents cry foul over illegal waste disposal

The dumping of human waste on a site in Lubowa in Makindye Ssabagabo Municipality has sparked outrage among residents and local authorities who say the disposal poses a risk of cholera outbreak.

The hazardous waste is dumped on a farm between Lubowa and Ndejje-Lubugumu opposite the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) housing estate site currently under construction.

The residents said the expansive farm, which comprises mainly banana plantations is owned by Mr Mathias Jjumba.
According to Daily Monitor investigations, the waste is collected by cesspool trucks from supermarkets, schools and other residential areas around Lubowa and Ndejje every morning and evening and dumped on the farm.
The National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) standards require that all human waste must be only be transported to a waste management facility that is authorised by the environment body to handle hazardous waste.

According to Nema standards, vehicles and equipment used in the transportation of hazardous waste must be in a good state to avoid littering, spillage, discharge or emission of noxious smells.
Kampala city has two waste treatment plants; one in Bugolobi and another in Lubigi. All cesspool trucks are supposed to collect and transport waste to these sites, not any other place.

Residents say Mr Jjumba’s interest is boosting soil fertility for his crops but the waste poses a health and environmental risk to them.
The farm is on a hill above a pond where residents draw water for domestic use. They are worried about outbreak of cholera due to water contamination.

Threatened
No resident was willing to be identified, saying they feared victimisation.
“When you speak about it, you receive threats from unknown people and this has made many of us to back off from the matter, but we are choking on the smell from the waste. We have tried to engage authorities in vain,” a resident told Daily Monitor.
Adjacent to the waste disposal site is a CCTV camera fixed at the Lubowa-Ndejje junction, about 200 metres to the spot where cesspool trucks branch off to dump waste on the farm.

Residents wonder why police have not used the CCTV footage to stop the waste trucks.
This newspaper has a seen a petition by Dr Drake Mubiru, a resident of Lubowa view estate, to Nema’s executive director, Dr Tom Okurut, protesting the illegal disposal of waste in the area.
“For several months now, we have observed cesspool trucks frequenting a particular place down in a valley between Lubowa and Ndejje. The trucks are seen moving to the place every early in the morning and late in the evening on a daily basis,” Dr Mubiru’s petition reads in part.

“As residents, we are concerned that they could be contravening the sewage disposal regulations. This is of much concern because the water supplied to some areas in Ndejje is extracted from underground in the same valley where we see the trucks, perhaps disposing of sewage”.
However, Dr Mubiru says he has not received a response from Nema regarding the complaint.
Daily Monitor visited Lubowa to verify the residents’ claims.
Upon approaching the place, the residents warned that accessing the site would not be easy because it is heavily guarded.

But while this reporter stood by the roadside, at least two loaded cesspool trucks made their way to Mr Jjumba’s farm. We were unable to access the farm that day.
On Tuesday, we went back to Lubowa and pitched camp in the area. We sat at an observation point to watch what happens. A few minutes later, a double- cabin truck manned by two police officers made its way to the farm. The vehicle returned after 30 minutes.

We could not readily establish the purpose of their visit to the farm nor did we ask the officers for fear of breaching our concealment. We later learnt the vehicle belonged to the Ministry of Water and Environment.

After combing the neighbourhood for a couple of hours in a bid to access the place, we finally entered the farm.
The first sight is of flourishing banana plants but as you venture further, you are hit by a strong stench emitted from the waste.

Tour
The farm has tunnels which carry the waste to different parts of the area. Cesspool trucks had just disposed waste on the farm at the time we visited. There are also green pipes which are used for pumping waste to different parts of the farm.

We did not inspect the entire farm for fear of being detected by the watchmen but we took photos and videos of different spots where waste is dumped at the farm.
Mr Jjumba declined to speak to Daily Monitor on the matter.

Mr Joseph Kimbowa, the town clerk of Makindye Ssabagabo Municipality, said their attempt to impound the waste trucks at the farm have been frustrated by police.
Mr Kimbowa said in September, municipal officials attempted to impound the cesspool but Mr Jjumba allegedly mobilised a gang armed with machetes who chased them away.

However, he said the officials impounded one truck and arrested the driver and other workers, but when they were taken to police, they were released without charge.
“When we went there for the second time, our officials were instead detained on orders of Mr Jjumba yet it is he and his goons who obstructed public officers. While we have made attempts to stop the vice, we have been frustrated by police officers who seem to be influenced by Mr Jjumba,” Mr Kimbowa said.

“We are disappointed at how police are acting as agents of impunity because in this particular case, they have not helped us. If police cannot protect interests of government, whom are they working for?” he asked.

Police speak out
Kampala Metropolitan spokesperson Patrick Onyango confirmed the Makindye Ssabagabo authorities reported the matter at Lubowa Police Station.
However, he said police opened a file and arrested Mr Jjumba and took him to court.

Mr Onyango denied accusations that Mr Jjumba compromised police, saying if the latter was released on bail by court, that was his constitutional right.
“We have played our part as police but we can advise them to get a court order to halt the disposal of human waste in that place so that we can implement it because we need a legal backing,” Mr Onyango said.
He also said police have since retained a cesspool truck at Lubowa Police Station which was impounded while depositing waste at the farm.

Nema not aware
Ms Naome Karekaho, the Nema spokesperson, said she was not aware of the waste disposal, and needed time to crosscheck. She referred us to Kampala Capital City Authority.
However, Lubowa lies outside KCCA jurisdiction because it is under Makindye-Ssabagabo Municipality in Wakiso District.
One of Nema senior enforcement officials, who declined to be named, said they would visit the site to verify the complaints.

Mr Charles Muwonge, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Water and Environment, told Daily Monitor by telephone that they were not aware of the alleged illegal disposal of waste in Lubowa.
“Nema and NWSC (National Water and Sewerage Corporation) have not alerted us about that. Now that you have alerted me, I will put it to the attention of the Permanent Secretary so that we can follow it up,” he said.

Asked about the ministry’s double cabin pick manned by police which visited the farm on Tuesday, Mr Muwonge said the ministry gave certain vehicles to Nema and NWSC to help them in daily operations but said he would follow up to ascertain the agency to which it belongs and why it visited the place.
He also added that the ministry has created divisions across the city to handle waste management.

Licensing companies

On September, 10 2019, Nema issued one-year licences to only six companies to collect and transport feacal waste from the city to the treatment plants in Bugolobi and Lubigi. They are Sheer Care Cleaning Services; Frempa Cleaning Services; Dream Solutions; Kyambadde Abas Enterprises; Shadil Enterprises and General Techniques and Engineering.

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