Garbage trucks littering city roads to be denied licences

For some time now, city residents have been complaining about garbage trucks that litter roads when transporting waste to Dandora dumpsite.

Almost every day, trash is taken to the dumpsite through various routes. Unfortunately, some of the waste spills from the trucks, leaving behind a foul smell.

Environment Chief Officer Ibrahim Otieno has warned that trucks that drop trash will not be licensed.

Otieno gave the warning during a sitting by the county assembly environment committee.

"The garbage trucks are not outlawed from using any public roads meaning there is no restriction on which route they can use so long as it is a public route," Otieno told the committee.

He however added: "They are supposed be covered, even though we have not achieved 100 per cent compliance on that but it is better than it used to be."

He explained that one of the resolutions the county government has made is not to licence trucks which are not covered.

County environment director John Malawi told the committee that one of the requirements is to ensure that the trucks are covered so as not to litter the roads.

Malawi assured the committee that bidding for suitable companies to put up a recycling plant at the dumpsite has lapsed.

According to the details that were published in the county government's portal, the successful firm will be required to build the recycling plant, finance it, operate and convert the waste into energy.

The proposed project is aimed at fixing the city's perennial garbage problem.

Nairobi generates about 3,000 metric tonnes of garbage daily with most of it being transported to the Dandora dumpsite. It was recently reported that the dumpsite holds about 1.8 million tonnes of garbage against a 500,000 tonne capacity.

Efforts to relocate the dumpsite have never borne fruit.