• Machau said private hospitals have incinerators to destroy hazardous waste unlike some public hospitals, mainly in rural areas.
• He said they are worried about rampant use of banned plastic bags in major towns.
Medical waste poses a hazard to our health and only a few counties have the capacity to handle it safely, Nema has said. So beware.
Nema deputy director in charge of enforcement Salome Machau said on Saturday some facilities use street boys to dispose of their waste. Some of this hazardous waste finds its way into water bodies, including drinking water.
“In some cases, the medical waste is dumped in water bodies around major towns. Any organisation found doing this will face the full wrath of the law,” she said.
Machau said private hospitals have incinerators to destroy hazardous waste, unlike some public hospitals, mainly in rural areas.
“We have many mushrooming health centres across the country and this has created challenges in disposing of their medical waste,” she said.
Machau said they are working on rules and guidelines to manage medical and solid waste.
She spoke during a consultative meeting in Burches Hotel, Naivasha.
Environmental Education and Information chief Catherine Mbaisi said, “We are working closely with county governments, lead agencies, churches, the private sector and other stakeholders in addressing the issue of solid waste management.”
She said they have a draft waste management policy bill, which awaits stakeholders' views before it is taken to Parliament.
Mbaisi urged counties yet to formulate a policy on solid waste management to hurry up.
“We are ready to partner with counties in addressing the issue of solid waste management,” she said.
Nema deputy director in charge of field operations Ali Mwanzei said they are concerned about the rampant use of banned plastic bags in major towns. "Some traders are using the porous Uganda border to sneak in these illegal bags,” he said.
Mwanzei further said they are getting rid of asbestos roofing, pipe insulation and oher uses.
Asbestos, commonly used for roofing and insulation, is a known carcinogen.
In December 2019, the National Environmental Tribunal sitting in Nairobi said asbestos was being phased out in many parts of the world, including Kenya, for health and other reasons.
Edited by A. Ndung'u