Kiteezi stinking to the high heaven - residents

People working and living near Kiteezi landfill in Kawempe Division, Kampala District, are at risk of numerous health hazards due to overflowing waste.
The waste is said to be flowing after a treatment plant at the site malfunctioned many years ago, officials established yesterday.

During a site visit yesterday, the Lord Mayor, Mr Erias Lukwago,   said  the worrying condition at the landfill was first raised by the Directorate of Public Health at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). 
He said the directorate recommended , among others, that the government should consider relocating to a new dumping site in Dundu-Mukono District or develop the already procured four acres of land which is adjacent to filled site in Kiteezi.

“In line with the Solid Waste Management Ordinance-2000, we are developing a policy on how to manage solid waste in Kampala amidst the current health hazard created by the poor management of Kiteezi landfill,” Mr Lukwago said.

“The current state of the site presents health issues, which necessitates immediate intervention to safeguard any eminent public health, human safety and property as well as to ensure the continued efficiency of waste collection and sanitation within the city,” he added.

Besides the non-functional leachate laboratory, the landfill has not had weighbridges for the last decade and the hired machinery to sort and compact the waste are in a poor mechanical condition.
Ms Stella Nantaba, a resident in Kiteezi, expressed concern of untreated waste that is flowing into their homes and gardens. 

“We heard that the discharge from garbage has the capacity to cause diseases like cancer as well as contaminating our food in the gardens. But for years now, the said poisonous water has continued to flood everywhere without being treated,” she said
Established in 1996, Kiteezi landfill is the dumpsite of all garbage collected from all five divisions of the city. 

However, the 36 acres of the landfill have since turned into ‘hills’ of garbage, which prompted the government to acquire 136 acres to construct a new landfill in Dundu, Mukono District.
Mr Lukwago advised that it is not appropriate to create another environmentally unfriendly landfill in Mukono when the government is still grappling with the management and the fate of the 36-acre land at Kiteezi landfill.

“We cannot say that we are going to create other ‘garbage hills’ in Mukono, let us consider a strategy that will be sustainable and environmentally friendly in all the proposals for the new landfills,” he said.
Speaking to this publication last evening, Mr Daniel Nuweabine, the research and business analyst at KCCA, said the authority is aware of the dire state at Kiteezi and urged the Lord Mayor to work with the KCCA’s technical wing to devise lasting solution for garbage management in Kampala.

“The situation at Kiteezi [landfill] is worrying but it all goes to limited resources allocated to maintain the site. These are issues we have always raised, it is good that it has come to the attention of the authority leaders, let work together to improve the image of this dumpsite,” Mr Nuweabine said.