Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) says it has started phasing out collection of garbage from different skips in the city and introduced self-loading by residents from their respective communities.
According to Peter Kaujju unlike the use of skips which leads to garbage pilling and thus environmental and public health concerns, self-loading involves a routine in which trucks that collect garbage come in at specific times and residents are mobilized and sensitized to load garbage unto the trucks.
"We have arrangements to improve and to continue improving garbage management in Kampala and so we are phasing out placement of skips in some areas of the city and we're promoting what we call self-loading because it helps.
People get to know the schedule of the truck and once that truck comes in, they do carry the garbage unto the trucks. It is easy, its convenient, it doesn't promote piling of garbage in several areas and that is why we are moving in that direction. People should know the schedule of these trucks and besides it is your responsibility as anyone who has generated garbage to ensure that it is properly deposited where it should go", Kaujju says.
Kaujju states that this will solve the problem of the failure by garbage trucks to reach congested slums as the dwellers come to the roadside where the trucks are parked, but also stop inappropriate waste disposal along streams, trenches and on the road side.
He says the new program is being introduced in most parts of Kampala with some enforcement officers moving around and sensitizing people on the manner of garbage collection.
Flavia Namatovu, a resident of Kyebando states that the self-loading program is a good one but in some areas, the truck does not stop to collect garbage.
Joseph Kityo, a resident of Mulago says that sometimes garbage piles in his compound in cases where he missed the truck, adding that the biggest challenge with self-loading is that one has to be present at the time when the trucks come.
When asked about the arrest of people who keep dumping garbage on the skips, Kaujju stated that most of the arrests are as a result of people dumping garbage recklessly and also ignoring the bins.
"We have not started arresting people for using the skips," he said.
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