Lakeside town sags under uncollected refuse

By Mangoa Mosota

Pigs rummage through the mound of garbage as children look for materials to make paper soccer balls.

The children, oblivious of the danger, play in the mounds of waste, undeterred by the foul stench.

This scenario of uncollected garbage plays out in all residential areas of Kisumu.

Most affected areas, however, are the informal settlements of Bandani, Manyatta, Nyalenda, Nyamasaria and Obunga.

Residents dispose of litter close to their houses. Some burn it, while most leave it to rot. Only a few have sought services of private garbage collectors.

Last year, the UN-Habitat unveiled a Sh68 million Kisumu Integrated Sustainable Waste Management Project to improve sanitation.

The 18-month project that is yet to commence was to improve waste management through public-private partnership.

The project would offer a credit guarantee scheme to groups to venture into management of solid waste services.

Intense pressure

Habitat Settlement Officer Cecilia Njenga said Kisumu was identified because the lakeside town is facing intense pressure from waste generated by its 500,000 residents.

She added that the project, the first ever in the town, would strengthen associations of waste collection groups.

Njenga said the project would result in improving the waste collection from 20 to 40 per cent a day.

However, the council collects garbage only in a few areas including the leafy Milimani Estate, town centre and adjacent areas.

Due to lack of capacity by the council, private firms have sprung up. They charge between Sh100 and Sh200. One of the organisations, Kisumu Waste Collectors and Recyclers Association has been operating for three years.

"We collect garbage from house to house. We then separate plastics from the other wastes," says Mr Cyrus Otieno, the organisation’s treasurer.

"We dispose of the waste at the council dumpsite near the Moi Stadium and take the plastics to an NGO in Nyalenda, which recycles them," says Otieno. He said they face challenges.

Last year, the Environment Act came into force and requires waste dealers to own a garbage truck with some specifications.

Otieno adds they have inadequate finance to support their activities.

A major impediment in the town is lack of a proper dumpsite.

The council has for the last four years been making efforts to acquire land for a dumpsite funded by the Swedish International Development Agency. The current dumpsite, about two kilometres from the town centre, is a health hazard.