A visit to Chakaleri dumpsite a few metres from the Voi-Taveta highway in Taita Taveta tells a tale of a county on the verge of being overwhelmed by its solid waste production.
Litter is strewn all over the place as sooty smoke emanates from a freshly lit fire to burn the growing mountain of garbage.
“Our solid waste collection and disposal is nothing to write home about. There is a lot of ground to be covered, if we’re to keep our environment free from solid and other wastes,” Water and Sanitation executive Grantone Mwandawiro said.
Mwandawiro was speaking to departmental heads at Mwatate Municipality offices, where he announced a new set of regulations and measures to deal with the solid waste menace.
“We’re at a breaking point and the county’s executive and legislative wings should develop a policy and regulatory framework to address the waste disposal,” Mwandawiro said.
He said the county’s collection and disposal of solid waste is at 30 per cent, leaving a huge burden of poorly disposed of and uncollected waste in the environment.
“Each day, 200 tonnes of solid waste are generated and only 30 per cent is collected and disposed of properly. The remaining 70 per cent is poorly disposed of and lies within our living places both in the rural and urban centres,” Mwandawiro said.
Nema county director Edith Kalo said Taita Taveta is in a dire solid waste collection and disposal situation and things need to change.
“Solid waste collection and disposal within the county is indeed on the verge of becoming a menace if nothing is done quickly,” she said.
Kalo said Nema, the county government, the national government, and non-governmental players are in consultation to draft a legislative policy on the issue of waste collection and management.
“Nema as the environmental custodian in conjunction with the county and national governments as well as other non-governmental stakeholders are working on legislation to streamline waste collection and management in the county,” she said.
