Why Kisumu's garbage removal will gobble more millions

Removing waste from the Kachok dumpsite will cost Sh400 million, twice the amount initially budgeted.

The extra funds will be used in the second phase of the project.

According to City Manager Doris Ombara, the initial budget was too little to make an impact, hence the cost adjustment.

She said the second phase of garbage removal would start next week.

"We did a decommissioning study that found that we need to treat the waste with chemicals to avoid bad smell, and be able to use it to make compost manure among other things," she said.

She said they could not do much with the Sh200 million, adding that due to limited financial resources they could not carry out certain services.

"Hauling the waste out of the dumpsite using lorries to a quarry in Kajulu is quite a process," she said.

The first phase consumed Sh97 million. It took 5,000 lorry trips.

Acquired land

"We did a research and found that 67 per cent of the garbage is organic and biodegradable. Only 37 is highly toxic. So it's not that hazardous," she said.

Ombara disclosed that they had acquired land in Chiga at a cost of Sh50 million, where they would dump waste in the second phase.

The move comes as local scientists, led by Dr Raphael Kapiyo, asked authorities to build a waste-to-energy plant to turn tonnes of garbage in Kisumu into electricity.

The experts made the recommendations after carrying out an intensive environmental impact assessment in Kisumu, to advice the authorities on how to manage the waste.

And city authorities disclosed a new contract to haul the garbage out of town had been awarded to Naya Holdings.

Ombara told The Standard that they expect to do 8,500 trips in the second phase to clear the garbage in Kachok.