The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) last week availed a US$ 900,000 grant to UN-HABITAT towards waste management in the western Kenyan town of Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria.  The idea is to improve waste management and promote environmental conservation through a public private partnership approach.
According to UN-HABITAT, today, most of the solid waste in Kisumu remains uncollected. The little that is collected, is removed from the higher income areas under a scheme shared between the City Authority and a few private operators. Furthermore, waste transported to the dumpsite for disposal is not properly managed. Experts said that with approximately 60 to 65 percent of the total generated waste being organic, enormous recycling opportunities exist for farm use. However, the poor management of solid waste has resulted in pollution of ground water supplies, the spread of infectious diseases, blocked sewers and damage to the lake through dumping. The Swedish funded project starting this month will adopt several capacity building approaches including the enforcement of reviewed by-laws, fee collection, monitoring and evaluation systems, private sector linkages, start-p machinery and landfill development for the Municipal Council of Kisumu. It will also stimulate and strengthen associations of waste collection groups and establish a credit guarantee scheme through and micro-financing for local communities. |
