City of filth: Striking contractors dump garbage on streets

Nairobians were filled by disgust yesterday morning when they found piles of garbage on the streets in the central business district.

Garbage collectors contracted by City Hall emptied almost every bin in the central business district and dumped the waste on the streets in protest against delayed payments for the past three months. The rubbish was later cleared in the afternoon. 

Business was also disrupted as vendors along Moi Avenue, Haile Sellasie Avenue, Kimathi Street and Shauri Moyo (along Jogoo Road) raised concerns over the filth. Most customers stayed away from such areas. They demanded swift action to ensure the city is clean at all times. 

Environment executive Larry Wambua blamed the confusion on the Finance department. He did not say how much the city owes the collectors.

NYS contract

Last month, City Hall announced plans to sign a one-year renewable contract with the National Youth Service to help in garbage collection across Nairobi. The contract is to be implemented soon.

NYS director general Matilda Sakwa yesterday they are at the planning stage. “We are at the planning stage, we will start soon,” Sakwa told the Star.

She expressed confidence that the mounting garbage that has turned into an eyesore will be eliminated.

Wambua said the NYS will first move into five zones that had no contractors — Roysambu, Kamkunji, Makadara, Embakasi East and Ruaraka.

During the signing of the agreement between City Hall and the NYS a few weeks ago, Wambua said the renewable contract was a government-to-government agreement. 

“We should start the programme early this week and the NYS will be collecting in areas recently been neglected by sabotaging contractors,” Wambua said at the time.

He said City Hall would still contract garbage collectors to assist in areas where a lot of waste is produced.

In June last year, the NYS announced a plan to a pay 10-month allowances to 56,000 youths under the Youth Empowerment Programme. Sakwa said the allowance of Sh21,000 each was meant to clear accumulated dues for the past 10 months after the programme was suspended. She said the institution had failed to pay after budget allocations were reduced following numerous scandals.

“This has been the major challenge since I was appointed. The budget cuts affected us badly but now the President intervened and the Treasury has released the money,” she said.

Sakwa said some Sh1.3 billion had been set aside through a supplementary budget to facilitate the payments.

Shauri Moyo Road has one of the largest piles of garbage, covering half of the dual carriageway. According to the police, the road turns into a one-way during rush hours, with other motorists diverting to Jogoo Road to avoid the traffic menace.

The foul-smelling ‘dumpsite’ is surrounded by residential houses, traders and the busy Gikomba market, causing pollution and health risks.

“This garbage has brought a lot of traffic destructions and confusion, especially during the rush hours. It is a busy road, there is a lot of congestion by pedestrians, bodaboda riders, vendors and motorists. I hope a solution will soon be found,” one Traffic police said.

Residents told the Star that unknown people from Eastleigh, Gikomba and Majengo slums dump their garbage very late at night when they are not seen.

Sonko clean-up exercise

In 2018, Governor Mike Sonko launched a monthly clean-up campaign whose theme was ‘My waste, my responsibility’. This had been taking place every first Saturday of the month across 85 wards. The efforts, however, seemed to have fizzled out.

Nairobi generates about 3,000 tonnes of waste daily, according to the Nairobi County Sustainable Waste Management Plan. Uncollected solid waste accounts for 774 tonnes per day, while private recycling companies handle 654 tonnes daily.