BY DAVID MAFABI
KAMPALA
The Minister of Works and Transport has urged Ugandans to get disciplined in matters of waste disposal which is the biggest cause of silting drainage channels in Kampala.
General Katumba Wamala poor waste management is one of the greatest environmental health challenges and continues to overwhelm Kampala city authorities as urban populations continue to rise and consumption patterns change.
He added that poor waste management is contributing to the impact of urban flooding by blocking drainage, increasing debris and harbouring disease vectors.
A paper on the status of Household Waste Management and Associated Factors in a Slum Community in Kampala, Uganda says that Only a third of the total waste generated in slum communities in Kampala is collected and disposed of at the landfill every month.
The Minister’s remarks follow a matter of national importance raised by Rubaga division South MP, Mr Aloysius Mukasa who said there is increasing flooding of the channel that stretches from Kibuye through Ndeeba with a lot of flooding in Wankuluku in Kampala as a result of the increase in rains.
Mr Mukasa said that the channel had been earmarked for redevelopment by KCCA in 2014 under the Kampala Institutional Development Project funded by the World Bank but that the project stalled as KCCA reported that it didn’t have funds to compensate the people to pave way for development.
Mr Muwanga Kivumbi also noted that beyond KCCA, the Kampala Metropolitan area is grappling with a big problem of silting the many channels which are the cause of flooding.
Mr Muwanga advised the Minister to mobilize excavators about 20 to go on a massive exercise to de-silt these channels across Kampala and solve the problem of flooding of channels across the Kampala Metropolitan area.
These reports come at a time proper waste management is generally low with the majority of households using sacks as their waste storage receptacles and not segregating their waste.
Reports from environmentalists reveal that Solid waste management is a large and growing problem for countries in the developing world and is often a neglected aspect of urban management.
Mr Frank Muramuzi, the executive director National Association of Professional Environmentalists [NAPE] says that the control of solid waste within areas at risk of flooding has the potential to reduce risk by minimising the amount of waste blocking drainage channels but that the local programmes are limited in their effectiveness as solid waste is often carried downstream and residents do not reap the benefit of reducing their own waste.
He added that reduced accumulation of waste, in general, will reduce the environmental impact of flooding and has multiple other benefits to health and wellbeing.
“Therefore, in order to improve the waste management in slum households around Kampala, there is a need to employ a cascade of interventions that address the knowledge, physical, and behavioural aspects of waste management,” said Mr Muramuzi. Ends
