March 19, 2024

County Closes Down 17 Illegal Dump Sites

County Government officers closing down illegal dumpsite (Photo/ Courtesy)

By The COAST Reporter

Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com

County Government of Mombasa has so far closed down 17 out of 32 illegal dumping sites since the exercise of reclaiming the towns lost glory begun a month ago.

Mombasa County Governor Abdulswamad Nassir had promised to clean up the city in his 100-days in office under the Rapid Response Initiative so as to get rid of the city’s waste and reclaim the city’s lost glory by closing of all illegal landfills.

In a bid to have a lasting solution to the garbage menace the Governor also announced that soon his administration would be floating an international expression of interest in the management of waste in the county.

The ancient town has been grappling with the issue of illegal dumping of garbage over decades of years a thing Nassir wants to deal with it once and for all.

“We are doing our level best to make sure that before the 100 day’s elapse, all the illegal dumpsites, 32 of them in total, are completely removed.  So far we are currently at site number 17,” said chief officer in the department of environment, waste management and energy Ahmed Ali Abdalla over the weekend.

Abdalla alluded to the fact that since the initiative began, the city especially around the CBD area has relatively remained clean compared to previous years.

Residents of Old Town Mombasa take part in a cleanup exercise (photo/ Courtesy)

He added that they had deployed ununiformed officers across the CBD to curb illegal dumping and shut down illegal landfills to ensure no illegal dumping takes place.

Several trucks are stationed across collection points identified by the county where waste collectors dump garbage and load them to Mwakirunge dumpsite in Kisauni Constituency.

“We have so far arrested about 50 people in connection with illegal dumping, the law is very clear, you either pay a fine of Sh20,000 or go to jail for six months,” he said.

He said the county was working towards engaging the community and sensitizing them on the existing laws and the importance of maintaining clean environment.

In 2019, the county tried to place waste bins within the CBD, but they were all vandalized however Abdalla said they were contemplating returning them because currently, there is no place to throw waste while within the CBD.

On Saturday the county launched a community cleanup exercise in one of its wards that shall be conducting cleanup activities in every first Saturday of the month.

The exercise is in line with the agenda and manifesto of the governor who has vowed to keep the city clean, that’s why the community is involved to support.

Local leaders and some dignitaries from Equity Bank join in the cleanup exercise (Photo/ Courtesy)

Equity Bank led by one of their branch manager Geoffrey Wanyonyi joined the exercise and called for implementation of a cyclic economy.

“We have joined the exercise because we are part of this community, as a bank, we are very much concerned about our environment because having a clean environment means we shall be able to serve our clients well,” said Wanyonyi.

The bank donated cleaning equipment used for the exercise promising to continue to take part in the initiative.

Residents of Kuze area in Old Town led by Abdul Shakur Mzee and Mohamed Sharif commended the Equity Bank for partnering with the community to introduce the monthly environment clean-up exercise in their area.

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