Kitezi site a death trap
Jun 19, 2005
RESIDENTS of Kitezi are complaining that Kampala City Council (KCC) is dumping garbage in their area and turning it into one of the most smelly villages. The garbage also pollutes water and endangers livestock.
By Gerald Tenywa
RESIDENTS of Kitezi are complaining that Kampala City Council (KCC) is dumping garbage in their area and turning it into one of the most smelly villages. The garbage also pollutes water and endangers livestock.
Because the site lacks a concrete floor, leachate, the fluid that oozes out of the garbage, also seeps into the underground water and contaminates it, making it dangerous for human consumption.
Fish farmers and cattle keepers are also complaining that their ponds and livestock are dying. About 20 cattle died after drinking water from the stream. Papyrus has also dried up.
However, KCC officials will not allow independent researchers to test samples of the leachate.
KCC began dumping waste in Kitezi about 10 years ago. The garbage contains household waste, medical waste and manufactured materials like batteries that contain lead, which can cause cancer.
The LC3 chairperson of Nangabo sub-county in Wakiso district, Cephas Kasozi, says most of the residents have to walk long distances to boreholes in search of safe water. The contamination of water has also discouraged cattle keeping and fish farming in the area.
“An irritating smell also frequently engulfs the village, especially during the wet season,’’ says Ronald Kirabira, a resident of Kitetika.
Fire frequently breaks out at the site thus releasing noxious gases, including dioxins, into the air, causing pollution.
Banada Nswa, a waste management expert, who heads the Uganda Environment Protection Forum, describes Kitezi as “a very dangerous dumping ground.’’
However, barefoot men and women compete with scavengers to retrieve things, they consider useful, from the garbage.
Nswa suspects that the papyrus dried up because of the heavy metallic minerals such as zinc and mercury, which cause cancer and other ailments in human beings. “The waste treatment plant at the ground does not have the capacity to remove the minerals,’’ Nswa says.
Gerald Sawula, the deputy executive director of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the government watchdog on environment, says “the dumping site has never been approved because KCC did not know what was required of them.’’
However, Sawula says the situation has improved compared to how it was a decade ago, adding that NEMA was assisting KCC to construct a sanitary landfill.
The city generates about 750 tonnes of waste everyday and only between 40% to 60% of it is deposited at Kitezi, the only dumping site for Kampala’s waste.
Before establishing the dumping ground, KCC gave the impression that it would put up a garbage recycling plant and improve the villagers’ welfare, which it has not done.
However, KCC refuses to accept any blame or admit there is a problem.
Kampala mayor John Ssebaana Kizito attributed the death of livestock to “poor animal husbandry.’’
Because of the public outcry, KCC constructed the road from Mpererwe to the dumping site and a borehole, according to Kirabira.
KCC hired a private firm, Dott Services, under the sh25b World Bank-funded Nakivubo Rehabilitation Project, to manage the dumping ground and convert it into a landfill.
Sula Kintu, a researcher with Uganda Environment Protection Forum, says the waste treatment plant was not designed to handle hazardous waste, including medical waste.
About four years ago, KCC undertook an environment impact assessment study with the view of expanding the garbage dumping site. But NEMA’s Patrick Kamanda says the undertaking is still far from meeting their expectations. Residents say the dumping site has reduced the value of their land and houses.
The water from the polluted stream meanders through the swamps in Kampala while flowing through Namanve Forest towards Lake Victoria.
Banada fears that the yams cultivated in the swamps take in heavy metals, thus becoming dangerous for human consumption.
Ends
RESIDENTS of Kitezi are complaining that Kampala City Council (KCC) is dumping garbage in their area and turning it into one of the most smelly villages. The garbage also pollutes water and endangers livestock.
Because the site lacks a concrete floor, leachate, the fluid that oozes out of the garbage, also seeps into the underground water and contaminates it, making it dangerous for human consumption.
Fish farmers and cattle keepers are also complaining that their ponds and livestock are dying. About 20 cattle died after drinking water from the stream. Papyrus has also dried up.
However, KCC officials will not allow independent researchers to test samples of the leachate.
KCC began dumping waste in Kitezi about 10 years ago. The garbage contains household waste, medical waste and manufactured materials like batteries that contain lead, which can cause cancer.
The LC3 chairperson of Nangabo sub-county in Wakiso district, Cephas Kasozi, says most of the residents have to walk long distances to boreholes in search of safe water. The contamination of water has also discouraged cattle keeping and fish farming in the area.
“An irritating smell also frequently engulfs the village, especially during the wet season,’’ says Ronald Kirabira, a resident of Kitetika.
Fire frequently breaks out at the site thus releasing noxious gases, including dioxins, into the air, causing pollution.
Banada Nswa, a waste management expert, who heads the Uganda Environment Protection Forum, describes Kitezi as “a very dangerous dumping ground.’’
However, barefoot men and women compete with scavengers to retrieve things, they consider useful, from the garbage.
Nswa suspects that the papyrus dried up because of the heavy metallic minerals such as zinc and mercury, which cause cancer and other ailments in human beings. “The waste treatment plant at the ground does not have the capacity to remove the minerals,’’ Nswa says.
Gerald Sawula, the deputy executive director of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the government watchdog on environment, says “the dumping site has never been approved because KCC did not know what was required of them.’’
However, Sawula says the situation has improved compared to how it was a decade ago, adding that NEMA was assisting KCC to construct a sanitary landfill.
The city generates about 750 tonnes of waste everyday and only between 40% to 60% of it is deposited at Kitezi, the only dumping site for Kampala’s waste.
Before establishing the dumping ground, KCC gave the impression that it would put up a garbage recycling plant and improve the villagers’ welfare, which it has not done.
However, KCC refuses to accept any blame or admit there is a problem.
Kampala mayor John Ssebaana Kizito attributed the death of livestock to “poor animal husbandry.’’
Because of the public outcry, KCC constructed the road from Mpererwe to the dumping site and a borehole, according to Kirabira.
KCC hired a private firm, Dott Services, under the sh25b World Bank-funded Nakivubo Rehabilitation Project, to manage the dumping ground and convert it into a landfill.
Sula Kintu, a researcher with Uganda Environment Protection Forum, says the waste treatment plant was not designed to handle hazardous waste, including medical waste.
About four years ago, KCC undertook an environment impact assessment study with the view of expanding the garbage dumping site. But NEMA’s Patrick Kamanda says the undertaking is still far from meeting their expectations. Residents say the dumping site has reduced the value of their land and houses.
The water from the polluted stream meanders through the swamps in Kampala while flowing through Namanve Forest towards Lake Victoria.
Banada fears that the yams cultivated in the swamps take in heavy metals, thus becoming dangerous for human consumption.
Ends