While each one of us hates the stench of garbage, we are the producers knowingly or unknowingly since we all contribute to creation of garbage in our homes, places of work, schools, hospitals and other places where human beings congregate. Littering is the order of the day in most urban centres especially with the travelling public who throw waste anywhere as they move either on foot or in vehicles.For long, garbage in towns has been a problem to administrators like town clerks and mayors to the extent that some have lost their jobs come election time.

In Mbarara, the former Mayor, Robert Rutehenda lost his seat in 2000 after he was blamed for the heaps of garbage that lay uncollected for months and turned the town into one stinking place. And in Kampala, the former mayor, Sebbana Kizito faced the wrath of President Yoweri Museveni during the 2001 elections. The president claimied that because Kampala City Council had failed to collect garbage, green flies had invaded Nakasero State lodge.

Nine urban centres are to benefit from a Nema and World Bank project that will help sort and process waste into manure and biogas among other products.

While garbage has been a problem worldwide, it is also a source of wealth if handled properly. It can generate electricity, biogas and manure for farming among others. It is also a source of raw materials for factories that recycle plastics and steel rolling mills. It is common to see young and old people scavenging garbage skips in search of such materials. Some look for scrap metals, others empty bottles and other recyclable materials.

However with the introduction of sorting of garbage in homes and loading directly onto the refuse trucks, some of these people who depend on scavenging will have to look for other alternatives for survival especially in Kakoba Division. Mbarara Municipal Council comprising three divisions generates between 150 to 200 tonnes of garbage per day, with Kakoba Division contributing about 100 tonnes.

Nyamitanga Division produces the least amount because most of it is used as manure in their gardens. The Mbarara town clerk, David Naluwayilo says that when the factory meant to compost the garbage and turn it into manure becomes operational, it will create employment for the residents. “There will be sorting and processing jobs. All that’s left is installing the machinery,” he said. The factory is funded by the World Bank through Nema at a cost of Shs400m. Johnson Tumwesigye, one of the directors of Nyangoburofa Enterprise, the company contracted to collect refuse, says goodwill exists among the population and they have already been sensitised about the need to manage garbage. “Since people are getting used to putting garbage in bags, it will be a lot easier for them to sort it from their homes so that it is loaded onto the vehicles already sorted,” he says.

The advantages of this project include the elimination of mounds of garbage, foul smell, less staffing, saving on skip buying, a cleaner environment and better sanitation among others. It will also attract funding from donors in form of carbon trading credits paid to cities that comply with better garbage disposal practices and saving on green gases emission.

The State Minister for Environment , Jessica Eriyo, hopes this will change the livelihood of people living in towns and the surrounding areas. “Once the project succeeds, the urban centres will be paid carbon credits for good waste management in line with good climatic change practices. It will also create employment for our people in the nine urban centres,” she says.

The urban centres to benefit in the pilot scheme are Kabale, Kasese, Masaka and Mukono. Others are Jinja, Mbale, Soroti, Lira and Mbarara. She wants people living in the towns and surrounding areas to take advantage of the manure that will be produced for their crops. “You should use the manure to improve soil fertility and increase production of food crops,” she told Mbarara residents at Koranorya Trading Centre who were marking Mbarara sanitation day.

The other advantage of the project is a better environment around towns especially water sources that are constantly polluted by surface runoffs carrying garbage. Naluwayilo says areas that have been depending on unprotected water sources will therefore benefit from this project. “We have arranged with the district and water authorities to extend a six-kilometre piped water scheme to the surrounding villages to save them from using dirty water,” he said. Residents of Rwentondo Village and other surrounding areas had complained about the dumping site which contaminated their water, with many falling sick and others losing their animals.

Challenges remain though. The medical officer of health MMC, Dr John Tinkasimire, says the local authorities are yet to find a solution to buveera and other objects that are generated after sorting. “Disposal of non-degradable garbage like buveera and bottles remains a problem,” he says.

Source: Otushabire Tibyange, The Daily Monitor, 27th May 2009, www.monitor.co.ug