Hospital waste choking Entebbe

By Anne Mugisa
and Mikaili Sseppuya
RESIDENTS near the shores of Lake Victoria in Entebbe have complained that dangerous waste has been dumped near their homes. The refuse from Entebbe Hospital includes syringes, broken bottles, blood-soaked cotton wool and thermometers which contain mercury and garbage from the town.

According to Susan Yiga, the LC1 vice-chairperson of Bukolwa village in Nkumba, the waste that is being released into the lake has contaminated their water sources.

This was during a visit last week to Nkumba by the First Lady, Mrs. Janet Museveni, to launch a housing estate and students’ hostel. The residents said swarms of flies from the waste have engulfed the area in addition to a heavy stench from fish remains. The waste, according to them, has also attracted scavenger birds.

An official from Entebbe municipal council, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the dumping was legal since they owned the land. “We bought the land 20 years ago from the owner, Nkalubo Ssebugwawo, specifically for dumping.”

He refuted the residents’ claims that the waste contaminates the lake and other water sources, saying “the water from the waste is filtered by the swamp before it enters the lake.”

The executive director of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA, Dr. Aryamanya Mugisha, told The New Vision that their inspector and an environment officer from the municipal council inspected the area and did not see anything.

“They went to the dumpsite and did not see the smelly waste you were asking about. That is the report I got last evening (Saturday).”

But the NEMA publicist, Naomi Namara Karekaho, said they were helpless “because the municipal council owns the land in question.”

She added that stopping the council would include buying them out yet the environment body has no funds.