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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Government has taken over the responsibility of determining garbage collection fees in Kampala City.
The move is reportedly aimed at preventing the exploitation of the public by the three garbage collection firms operating in the city.
They are Nabugabo Up deal Joint Venture, Homeklin Services (U) Limited and Kampala Solid Waste Management Consortium Limited.
Currently, the companies charge between Shillings 3000 and 30,000 monthly for garbage collection from residential and commercial buildings, which they decide without involving Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
However, the Kampala Minister, Betty Olive Kamya, says cabinet resolved on Monday to take over the setting of garbage collection fees to stop exorbitant fees.
She says the decision stemmed from complaints raised by city residents to President, Yoweri Museveni during his tour in the city in August last year.
Kamya says part of the decision involves KCCA collecting garbage from communities of low income earners, which are classified as poverty stricken and incapable of paying the garbage collection fees set by the Authority.
She says the low income areas were identified based on a poverty survey conducted by Uganda National Bureau of Statistics in 2016 as well as KCCA poverty Mapping.
Kamya explains that cabinet has also tasked KCCA to outsource a private company to treat waste into valuable materials including briquettes, electricity and glass amongst others within the next one year.
Dr. Daniel Okello, the Director of Public Health and Safety in KCCA, says Kampala generates up to 2,200 tons of waste each day. He says the waste end up in landfills in Kitesi in Wakiso district.
He says government wants to derive value from the waste by building a waste treatment plant, adding that in future government will enact a law requiring homesteads to sort their waste before it is collected.
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