I’ll shut down illegal dump sites – Nassir

Mombasa Governor-Elect Abdulswamad Nassir has promised to shut down illegal dumpsites in the county.

Nassir said his government intends to embark on waste recycling by putting up a multimillion-shilling plant at Mwakirunge through a public-private partnership plan.

Among the illegal dumping sites in the county are VOK, Uwanja wa Mbuzi, Kadongo, Mtopanga and Makaburini.

Nassir said the county government will issue tenders to qualified companies to handle the garbage.

“In the first 10 days in office, we will issue an international expression of interest to all world recycling companies, so that we can have the private sector handle the garbage,” he said.

The Governor-elect was speaking on Tuesday when he made a tour of the Mwakirunge dumping site (pictured) in the north of Mombasa.

Long term

Nassir, who was elected in the August 29 election, is set to be sworn in on September 15.

His said one of his main missions is to solve the garbage menace that has haunted residents of Mombasa for years.

“We must sit down with all our stakeholders so that we can have a long term solution,” said Nassir.

Despite the county’s strict rules on illegal dumping, including a Sh500,000 to Sh1 million fine depending on the quantity of the garbage, haphazard dumping still goes on.

Mombasa has a population of about 1.2 million people and with the per capita generation of solid waste being 0.75 per day, this translates to 900 tonnes of solid waste generated daily.

The county’s collection efficiency is between 45 and 50 per cent.

Recent data shows that 68 per cent of the waste generated in Mombasa is organic while 30 per cent is recyclable.