Mindset shift on waste management in favour of sorting, value addition needed to avert another kiteezi tragedy

Scenes from the Kiteezi garbage landfill that has stayed open despite reaching its capacity. Last weekend it claimed an estimated dozen lives besides destroying houses in its vicinity

The ideas come in the wake of the collapse of a portion of the Kiteezi garbage landfill that killed close to a dozen people last weekend.

Members of Parliament called on Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) administrators to abandon the current outdated system of dumping waste in the environment and instead start adding value to it.

Iki Iki county MP Robert Kasolo said the loss of human life due to garbage is a source of shock and embarrassment for the country especially in the face of technological advancements.

A member of the physical infrastructure committee of Parliament, Kasolo condemned the KCCA’s plan to create another landfill at Dundu in Mukono district saying this will only prolong the garbage challenge as opposed to solving it.

Kasolo said: “This system of dumping garbage is outdated…. in countries with a bigger population, you would expect to see bigger heaps of garbage, but you do not see that dumping because they have devised means including using technologies to turn waste into money.”

He added: “When I hear somebody saying that they have bought more land in Ddundu, I just see a problem recurring, that we are not solving anything,” Kasolo.

Katikamu South MP Hassan Kirumira added to the call for technological change when he called for the development of waste treatment plants to recycle garbage, arguing that continuing with old waste management methods reflects poor leadership in the face of modern technological options.

“It is easy to establish treatment centres that are going to stop these garbage issues, maybe at this point we can call private individuals that are interested in investing in Waste Management,” Kirumira.

Kapiri County MP in Ngorwa district, Dr Isamat Abraham blamed lack of commitment from the government aimed at addressing the crisis.

“The most critical thing is funding because in every program implementation, funds are needed to expect good output, good results. In my opinion, there is need for government to commit funds for the management of waste, short of that we shall continue to experience situations like that,” said Dr. Isamat.

But civil society activists argue that the starting point to addressing the garbage problem must be sensitizing both the garbage producers and private garbage collectors towards sorting waste so as to attract value addition.

Responding to the tragedy in Kiteezi, Frank Irumba, the chairman Missions Beyond Frontiers (MBF) an NGO that runs SORTED Campaign, a waste management sensitization program in different parts of Uganda, says that there is need for a deliberate effort by government to sensitise the public in order to register a change in mindset.

“KCCA has to conduct massive sensitization of the public aimed at sorting garbage into forms that are easily convertable into useful stuff.”

Irumba added: “For us as an NGO, we are ready to take on this challenge, all we need are funds to allow us to embark on sensitization of the masses.”

Irumba said that Ugandans ought to be sensitized to appreciate that garbage is a resource that can generate wealth for households while also having a positive impact on the economy.

“Now is the time for us to change the way we behave concerning waste because everyday we generate waste and we do not have the conscience to say where does this waste go, we just leave it to somebody else to take care of. At least I know there are plastic recyclers, we know there are farmers who need this waste, as long as its managed well,” said Irumba.

There have been attempts to convert Kampala’s massive garbage into useful forms such as energy. However these efforts have hit a dead end due to the fact that the waste is not sorted and becomes almost impossible to convert into something useful.

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