Nairobi News

City Hall is set to enhance garbage collection across the city with the pileup to be cleared within the next 60 days.

The county government has now scaled up the collection of garbage from 1,000 to 2,200 tonnes a day. Nairobi residents produce 2, 500 tons of solid waste daily.

To achieve this, the Environment Department has engaged a new contractor, Flexilease Limited, to collect 2,200 tonnes every day covering all the 17 sub-counties.

More than 52 trucks have, since last week, been stationed in specific areas within the sub-counties to aid in prompt collection of the solid waste.

Hit the ground running

The county government also entered into an agreement with the National Youth Service (NYS) on garbage collection in January and now the State agency has hit the ground running.

NYS trucks have been collecting garbage across the city since last week when the new office led by Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director-General Mohamed Badi formally took over office.

Nairobi County Environment Executive Larry Wambua said the contractor has already fully covered eight sub-counties with the next five set to be covered before the end of next week.

“Our teams are in Makadara, Roysambu, Makongeni, Kawangware and other places. We believe by end of next week we shall have covered 12 sub-counties,” Mr Wambua said.

Last night, the trucks cleared huge garbage pile-ups in Embakasi South’s Kware area and its environs.

The exercise is also being coordinated by sub-county and ward administrators in consultation with the respective MCAs.

Mr Wambua noted that the collection will be done twice a week in every dumping site across the wards.

Nonetheless, ongoing road works in some of the areas have made accessibility a challenge.

“The plan is to have the trucks go round twice a week to every point especially in the informal settlements,” he said.

The Environment officer pointed out that NYS together with the county enforcement teams would also work closely to enforce regulations on illegal dumping within the estates.

Garbage has been an eyesore to Nairobi residents who have been pointing accusing fingers at the county government.

However, efforts by the county to ensure timely collection and disposal have always been thwarted by cartels.

In a bid to clear the capital of the garbage, Governor Mike Sonko launched monthly clean-up exercise in July 2018.

The monthly clean-up exercise has seen at least 19 bodies, including 14 infants and five adults, retrieved from the expansive Nairobi River.

Mr Sonko has several times been on record castigating the cartels with the Governor holding meetings with President Uhuru Kenyatta on how to dismantle the cartels, who are powerful owing to their deep-rooted network and pockets.