Inside KCCA, waste managers meeting
Police officers oversee the search and rescue operation at Kiteezi landfill on August 13, 2024. PHOTO / Michael Kakumirizi
What you need to know:
- Statistics from KCCA indicate that only 40 percent of the 2,500 tonnes of waste generated in the city, is properly collected, with the rest accumulating in illegal dumps, clogging drainage systems, and creating health hazards.
Waste managers have accused Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) of neglecting their role in addressing the city's garbage crisis.
Speaking at a meeting with the KCCA leadership at the authority’s headquarters in Kampala on November 27, the waste managers, under their umbrella body of the Uganda Waste Managers Association, said the Kiteezi tragedy would have been avoided if KCCA had involved them in discussions to manage the landfill.
On August 10, a section of the Kiteezi landfill in Wakiso District collapsed, killing 35 people, injuring 18 and destroying properties worth millions of shillings.
“Despite our countless efforts to [talk to] the KCCA leadership then, we were not listened to and we feel that was the problem that led to the lives that were lost. There was no listening ear from the people mandated to manage waste. Authorities were only focusing on garbage collection and landfilling, not waste management,” Mr Bryan Toshi Bwana, the association's national chairperson, said.
He added that there are various waste management challenges in Kampala and beyond that continue to hinder sustainable waste management in Uganda.
“The composition and volume of waste continue to change rapidly due to the rapid urbanisation rate, high population growth rate, the changing structure of the Ugandan economy characterised by the increasing levels of industrialisation, increasing volumes of trade, the changing production and consumption patterns, and lifestyles that generate vast quantities of waste,” he said.
Statistics from KCCA indicate that only 40 percent of the 2,500 tonnes of waste generated in the city, is properly collected, with the rest accumulating in illegal dumps, clogging drainage systems, and creating health hazards.
Mr Bwana proposed the development of a national waste management policy, which he believes would support the KCCA Solid Waste Ordinance of 2000, a law that also requires several amendments. The existing ordinance has been criticized for its limited scope and jurisdiction, rendering it inadequate in addressing the complex waste management challenges faced by the city.
Following the Kiteezi collapse, the government hand-picked a Ghanaian firm Jospong Group of Companies to manage the decommissioning of the landfill.
This created a lot of outrage among different stakeholders prompting the Inspector General of Government to halt the implementation.
“To say that the government is rushing for solutions in Dubai and Thailand, His Excellency the pan-African we all respect, love, and adore moving to Ghana, China for Kiteezi, a local problem is absurd and shows a missing link? We need to sit down, have sober minds, have sober discussions, and get to solve this problem ourselves,” Mr Bwana said.
Mr Isaac Katureebe Rukandema, the manager of Homeklin Uganda Limited, said: “We are cognizant of the fact that the waste management challenge is at a national level and yet we do not have a national Waste Management Policy, strategy, guidelines, and implementation plan. This would provide a comprehensive framework for managing waste, ensuring consistency and coordination across the country, but also promote sustainable development, public health and environmental protection.”
Mr Hamza Nyondo of the Nabugabo Up Deal Joint Venture, proposed an introduction of recovery facilities as opposed to landfills since between 71 percent and 81 percent of the waste generated in Kampala is organic.
“What roles can we play to utilise that waste productively and earn out of it? So we don't even need landfills today. What we need are MRFs, and material recovery facilities. Not landfills. What we need are collection centers, storage centres, and onward processes. We need repurposing manufacturing centres. Waste is a resource. It has value. It's not as wasteful as you think,” he said.
Dr Sarah Zalwango, the acting director of public health at KCCA, implored the waste managers to reach out to KCCA, adding that they are looking at continuously engaging stakeholders more so in regard to waste management.
“As we propose to have the ordinance amended, we want to capture all issues related to solid management and the gaps the current ordinance has, we are also not ending at one time engagements but shall have this continuously,” she said.
