Garbage: Will NEMA get rid of the menace?
Sep 12, 2007
GARBAGE, overflowing sewerage pipes and lack of toilets are common in almost all urban areas in the country. In slum areas, it is very difficult to construct toilets because the areas are wetlands. This is one of the challenges that members of the Uganda Urban Authorities Association discuss wheneve
By Joshua Kato
GARBAGE, overflowing sewerage pipes and lack of toilets are common in almost all urban areas in the country. In slum areas, it is very difficult to construct toilets because the areas are wetlands. This is one of the challenges that members of the Uganda Urban Authorities Association discuss whenever they meet.
With the help of the National Environment Authority (NEMA), urban authorities have plans of not only keeping the towns clean, but turning garbage into a money-spinning venture. The question is: Will their dreams materialise?
Under the first phase of the programme, NEMA is assisting nine municipalities across the country to enhance their capacity to fight garbage. The nine municipalities include Kasese, Fort-Portal, Lira, Jinja, Mukono, Kabale, Mbarara, Mbale and Soroti. The project has already been launched in several of these towns.
The concept is intended to reduce the generation of gases by disposed garbage that affect the ozone layer and cause global warming.
NEMA’s public relations officer, Naome Karekaho, says the World Bank is targeting municipalities because they are the major generators of garbage. “The World Bank set up a project to reduce the escape of these gases by recycling garbage and turning it into energy or manure,†Karekaho says.
In the package, NEMA will give a truck and skips to collect garbage, funds to construct a road to the recycling site and machinery to recycle the garbage.
Among the expected benefits are manure that will be sold to farmers and electricity that will be added to the national grid. Funds generated are expected to ensure sustainability of the project.
The help is a God-send to the nine municipalities. The dumping site for Lira municipality has been set up in Alero, 15kms from Lira town, according to the mayor Peter Owiny.
In Jinja municipality, NEMA is helping the authorities construct a treatment plant to turn garbage into manure. “We shall also be buying garbage from the people to turn it into manure for farmers,†says the mayor, Mohamed Beswale Kezaala.
An estimated 300 tonnes of garbage are generated everyday in urban areas by a combined population of around 3.5 million. It is expected that by 2015, the urban population will have grown to around 7 million people, with at least 4 million living full-time in Kampala. This means the garbage tonnage will increase.
Local leaders argue that the leading problem is lack of enough funds to purchase the right equipment to remove garbage. The other is poor sensitisation of the population about their responsibilities in garbage disposal.
To effectively remove garbage, Kampala alone needs at least 700 garbage skips, with each of the five divisions sharing at least 120.
These should be managed by at least 100 trucks, with each of the divisions sharing 20. However, many urban areas do not have enough funds to purchase these trucks and skips. “Every division of the city should have at least 20 trucks that can operate around the clock. Some of the divisions have got three or five,†says Makindye division chairman, Moses Kalungi.
Lira municipality, one of the most famous in Lango sub-region has got only one truck. “The truck we acquired in 1980 keeps breaking down,†laments Owiny. As a result, garbage sometimes heaps up, especially around the municipal market. Ideally, a municipality like Lira would need at least 20 skips and five trucks in good working condition.
Kampala mayor Nasser Sebaggala says over 100 tonnes of garbage are generated in the city everyday. Another problem is lack of enough equipment. The available capacity handles less than 100 tonnes a day. As a result, garbage continues to pile, much to the chagrin of the population.
Leaders say the future of garbage management in urban areas is recycling. “We have to learn how to turn garbage into gold,†says Sebaggala. Garbage can be turned into energy or into manure for fertilising farm land, yet no urban area has done it.
Kampala has got a garbage recycling plant located in Kitezi, Wakiso district, but it has out-lived its usefulness.
Urban leaders say the few available trucks are poorly maintained and many of them are parked because of the tedious procurement process for spare parts. “This is the case with parts as low as sh2m,†says Kalungi.
Alex Lemu, the mayor Moroto Municipality, says garbage management was made a priority. “We spend huge sums of funds on garbage collection,†he says.
“We spend at least sh10m a month for transporting garbage,†says Rubaga division chairperson Winnie Makumbi.
This is the average amount spent by other municipalities, yet it is far below the necessary amount. Ideally, Kampala City Council needs at least sh500m monthly, with each division sharing sh100m.
Until recently, Entebbe municipality, had two garbage trucks in bad condition and could only take three trips of garbage per day. The town acquired a modern garbage truck worth over sh300m. “This was a donation by Kalmar City of Sweden,†says the town clerk, Joseph Kimbowa.
Urban areas should adopt interventions like Apac town council. Early this year, it passed a Sanitation Act which states that all houses should have latrines, hand washing facilities, bathrooms, kitchens and racks for plates. The mayor, Jimmy Ebong, says: “Whoever fails to implement elements of this Act is liable to a fine of sh30,000 or imprisonment for two months.â€
Gulu Mayor, Acire argues that societal sensitisation can also improve the problem of garbage collection. “We started a rigorous campaign, telling people that this was a collective problem. They have since improved,†he says.
Urban areas should also work with other environmental groups to manage the garbage menace.
According to the law, every urban authority should have a solid waste disposal and management centre. And now that NEMA is on board, this problem might be ending.
GARBAGE, overflowing sewerage pipes and lack of toilets are common in almost all urban areas in the country. In slum areas, it is very difficult to construct toilets because the areas are wetlands. This is one of the challenges that members of the Uganda Urban Authorities Association discuss whenever they meet.
With the help of the National Environment Authority (NEMA), urban authorities have plans of not only keeping the towns clean, but turning garbage into a money-spinning venture. The question is: Will their dreams materialise?
Under the first phase of the programme, NEMA is assisting nine municipalities across the country to enhance their capacity to fight garbage. The nine municipalities include Kasese, Fort-Portal, Lira, Jinja, Mukono, Kabale, Mbarara, Mbale and Soroti. The project has already been launched in several of these towns.
The concept is intended to reduce the generation of gases by disposed garbage that affect the ozone layer and cause global warming.
NEMA’s public relations officer, Naome Karekaho, says the World Bank is targeting municipalities because they are the major generators of garbage. “The World Bank set up a project to reduce the escape of these gases by recycling garbage and turning it into energy or manure,†Karekaho says.
In the package, NEMA will give a truck and skips to collect garbage, funds to construct a road to the recycling site and machinery to recycle the garbage.
Among the expected benefits are manure that will be sold to farmers and electricity that will be added to the national grid. Funds generated are expected to ensure sustainability of the project.
The help is a God-send to the nine municipalities. The dumping site for Lira municipality has been set up in Alero, 15kms from Lira town, according to the mayor Peter Owiny.
In Jinja municipality, NEMA is helping the authorities construct a treatment plant to turn garbage into manure. “We shall also be buying garbage from the people to turn it into manure for farmers,†says the mayor, Mohamed Beswale Kezaala.
An estimated 300 tonnes of garbage are generated everyday in urban areas by a combined population of around 3.5 million. It is expected that by 2015, the urban population will have grown to around 7 million people, with at least 4 million living full-time in Kampala. This means the garbage tonnage will increase.
Local leaders argue that the leading problem is lack of enough funds to purchase the right equipment to remove garbage. The other is poor sensitisation of the population about their responsibilities in garbage disposal.
To effectively remove garbage, Kampala alone needs at least 700 garbage skips, with each of the five divisions sharing at least 120.
These should be managed by at least 100 trucks, with each of the divisions sharing 20. However, many urban areas do not have enough funds to purchase these trucks and skips. “Every division of the city should have at least 20 trucks that can operate around the clock. Some of the divisions have got three or five,†says Makindye division chairman, Moses Kalungi.
Lira municipality, one of the most famous in Lango sub-region has got only one truck. “The truck we acquired in 1980 keeps breaking down,†laments Owiny. As a result, garbage sometimes heaps up, especially around the municipal market. Ideally, a municipality like Lira would need at least 20 skips and five trucks in good working condition.
Kampala mayor Nasser Sebaggala says over 100 tonnes of garbage are generated in the city everyday. Another problem is lack of enough equipment. The available capacity handles less than 100 tonnes a day. As a result, garbage continues to pile, much to the chagrin of the population.
Leaders say the future of garbage management in urban areas is recycling. “We have to learn how to turn garbage into gold,†says Sebaggala. Garbage can be turned into energy or into manure for fertilising farm land, yet no urban area has done it.
Kampala has got a garbage recycling plant located in Kitezi, Wakiso district, but it has out-lived its usefulness.
Urban leaders say the few available trucks are poorly maintained and many of them are parked because of the tedious procurement process for spare parts. “This is the case with parts as low as sh2m,†says Kalungi.
Alex Lemu, the mayor Moroto Municipality, says garbage management was made a priority. “We spend huge sums of funds on garbage collection,†he says.
“We spend at least sh10m a month for transporting garbage,†says Rubaga division chairperson Winnie Makumbi.
This is the average amount spent by other municipalities, yet it is far below the necessary amount. Ideally, Kampala City Council needs at least sh500m monthly, with each division sharing sh100m.
Until recently, Entebbe municipality, had two garbage trucks in bad condition and could only take three trips of garbage per day. The town acquired a modern garbage truck worth over sh300m. “This was a donation by Kalmar City of Sweden,†says the town clerk, Joseph Kimbowa.
Urban areas should adopt interventions like Apac town council. Early this year, it passed a Sanitation Act which states that all houses should have latrines, hand washing facilities, bathrooms, kitchens and racks for plates. The mayor, Jimmy Ebong, says: “Whoever fails to implement elements of this Act is liable to a fine of sh30,000 or imprisonment for two months.â€
Gulu Mayor, Acire argues that societal sensitisation can also improve the problem of garbage collection. “We started a rigorous campaign, telling people that this was a collective problem. They have since improved,†he says.
Urban areas should also work with other environmental groups to manage the garbage menace.
According to the law, every urban authority should have a solid waste disposal and management centre. And now that NEMA is on board, this problem might be ending.