Kiyindi landing site chokes on garbage

By Henry Nsubuga

Kiyindi landing site in Najja sub-county, Buikwe District, a major source of income to the country through fish export, is choking on garbage.

The decomposing garbage on the landing site floods the banks of Lake Victoria, threatening the aquatic life and the surrounding community.

Residents in the area tell New Vision the poor waste disposal has been a major problem on the landing site for decades.

The situation has put at high health risk the lives of the people who depend on this water for domestic use.

“We have complained about the foul smell of those heaps of garbage for more than a year but unfortunately the local leaders are keeping a deaf ear. We no longer get customers and diarrhea is becoming a common problem,” says Madina Naluyima, an area resident.

Unfortunately, the problem is not about to be sorted out.

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 Najja sub-county chairperson, Muhammad Ssekyembe says they lack resources to collect the growing heaps of garbage.

“We do not receive any funds from the district to manage garbage. We admit the situation is worse but our hands are tied,” he points out.

But the residents, majority of whom are traders, said they pay huge taxes to get services but the revenue generated from them is diverted to other non-critical issues.

“I appeal to the area Members of Parliament and the Resident District Commissioner Abas Sseguya Waggwa to intervene,” calls out John Sserwadda, a businessman at the site.

In a separate interview, Buikwe district chairman, Mathias Kigongo says the garbage problem is not only on Kiyindi landing site but also on others, like Ssenyi landing site in Ssi sub-county.

He admits landing sites lack space where garbage can be dumped if it were collected.

“We shall have to look for willing residents to allow us dump the garbage in their gardens,” says the chairman.

He thinks the ministry of local government should upgrade landing sites into town councils to enable them get independent budgets to manage their affairs.