Mukono Residents Protest Costly Garbage Collection by Dumping Garbage

The business community and residents of Mukono Central Division in Mukono Municipality are protesting high garbage collection charges by adding wrong to wrong hoping to get a right.

On Friday and today Saturday residents as well as traders embarked on collection of garbage from homes, Kame valley and Kikooza market dropping it in the middle of the market road which connects from Nabuti to Wantoni trading center.

The municipality contracted De Waste to manage garbage in Goma division and Bin IT Ug limited in the Central division as well as Namakya Enterprises limited to manage its landfill at Katikoro.

However, the municipality did not come up with clear and fixed guidelines on charges for residents generating the garbage to pay, but it also stopped other local private collectors from operating in the area.

Swalik Muteesa, a resident at Kikooza in the Central division says Bin IT tasks them to pay between Shillings 28, 000 to 40, 000 on a monthly basis for collecting garbage from their homes.

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Shakirah Namugaru, a trader at Kame valley market reveals that each stall block is tasked to pay between Shillings 30, 000 to 70, 000 on a monthly basis. She notes that before companies from Kampala were contracted to manage garbage, they could hardly pay beyond Shillings 30, 000.

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URN has established that garbage trucks for the municipality have since February been parked at the municipal headquarters. The Municipal Mayor, Erisa Mukasa Nkoyoyo says tenders for garbage collection were awarded to private contractors.

Nkoyoyo however notes that they advised them to avoid inflicting exorbitant charges on residents. He notes that they advised them to charge not more than 1, 500 Shillings every time they collect garbage from them.

Paul Lugalambi, Executive Director of Bins IT in attributes blames the municipal authorities for failure to sensitize people about their responsibilities.

According to him, they are in business and can never collect garbage from any person without paying since it is that money that they use to supplement their budget from the municipality to perform their duties.

“I have to fuel the trucks, pay the persons involved in the process of the collection among other things, I cannot offer them free services,” Lugalambi notes.

Statistics from the Mukono Municipal Environment Officer indicate that over 270 tons of garbage are generated daily within Goma and Mukono central division. However, only 69 tons are collected on a monthly basis.