• Residents have raised concerns over the growing heap of garbage at the recently evacuated Kachok dumpsite.
• The county government spent approximately Sh300 million to evacuate the eight-acre-mountain of solid waste.
Image: /FAITH MATETE
The Kisumu government has bought an 84-hectare (207 acres) parcel of land in Chiga as a new waste disposal site for the relocation of the Kachok dumpsite.
The Sh34 million land has already been handed over to the county government, according to the governor's press boss Aloice Ager. He said public participation was done in the area.
Ager said the land at Chiga is ready for use, but the two roads leading to the site are in bad condition because of heavy rains.
The announcement comes as residents raised concerns over the growing heap of garbage at the recently evacuated Kachok dumpsite.
They are questioning the county's plan to ensure that it does not go back to the previous mountain it was before the relocation.
Mark Omondi said, “Even though the county government stated that they had completely evacuated the dumpsite [Kachok], this is not the case, because the mountain is slowly coming up, dumping is being done at the site every day.”
The county government spent approximately Sh300 million to evacuate the eight-acre-mountain of solid waste that has been a menace to Kisumu residents for over 35 years.
Ager assured residents that there was no cause for alarm because the matter was being handled and the implementation of the planned rehabilitation of the dumpsite will continue.
The county had also planned to fence off and landscape the area to keep off ‘purported owners’.
There is a land ownership suit in court over the Kachok dumpsite after two private developers revived the almost two-decade-old case in which they are claiming the land.
Two brothers, Kishor Dayalji and Nilesh Dayalji, have claimed ownership of the property in a case they are also alleging stalled after the file went missing for a while.
In the case, which was heard by Justice Anthony Ombayo on October 17, the brothers are seeking to stop the former Kisumu municipal council (now Kisumu county government) from using sections of KM block 9/126 as dumpsite.
Image: /FAITH MATETE
The two claim they are the registered owners of the plot, saying they bought it at a public auction on May 5, 1998.
Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o had last year revealed plans to transform the eight-acre Kachok dumpsite land into a recreational park to a tune of Sh130 million.
Landscaping, which will include the planting of trees, grass, flowers and shrubs, was to cost Sh1 million. Walking trails were to be established inside the park as well as the construction of an ablution block for Sh2 million.
The planned recreational centre will house a resource centre, a children’s park corner in memory of Baby Samantha Pendo, a swimming pool and an open gym. This, however, is yet to commence.
A botanical garden has already been established in 2.45 acres evacuated during the first phase.
Finding alternative land as a new dumpsite site has not been easy for the county government.
Five years ago, the county government under former Governor Jack Ranguma, purchased land for a dumpsite in Kibigori, Muhoroni constituency, but residents opposed the move.
They said if not well-handled, the facility may pose a major environmental threat to water sources and cause other forms of pollution.
In 2017, the county also had a major setback after the French government opposed a proposed landfill in Muhoroni due to distance.
The French government is the sponsor of the clean-up that is under the Kisumu Urban Project.
Edited by A.N