The much publicised relocation of Kachok dumpsite may take longer than anticipated after leaders opposed it.
A fresh row has emerged between Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o and Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabbir over the new site for the waste, with the relocation estimated to cost up to Sh800m.
Leaders from Kajulu Ward where the newly identified site is located rejected plans to relocate the dumpsite there, saying it will pose health risks.
Done deal
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On Tuesday, Mr Shabbir vowed to defend his people by blocking the county government from taking the waste to his area, but Nyong’o said that the relocation is a done deal and “anybody feeling aggrieved may as well go to court.”
“I want to vow that the waste from Kachok will not come to Kajulu and I am already working on a court process to stop,” said Shabbir.
Nyong’o last week launched the relocation process, which will see the massive waste that has become an eyesore in the city moved to the open quarries in Kajulu.
The relocation of the dumpsite is one of the components of the Sh4 billion French Government-funded Kisumu Urban Project, which focuses on the modernisation of solid waste management.
The decade-old project has not been able to take off following controversies over the location of the modern landfill. Two of the areas previously identified were rejected by residents for fear of health hazards.
A 50-acre parcel of land acquired for the purpose had to be abandoned in Muhoroni, after residents, project financiers and the Kenya Aviation Authority rejected it.
With the project life set to expire at the end of this year and Nyong’o having pledged to have the rubbish dump moved from its current location within his first 100 days in office, Kisumu City Management headed by City Manager Doris Ombara has escalated the process of relocating the site in the recent past.
This led to the acquisition of the quarries near Mamboleo, in a programme which Nyong’o said would be synonymous to killing two birds using one stone.
Imminent danger
“The existence of the quarries has been dangerous to people of the area and filing them will be advisable to prevent imminent danger they pose to the residents. The waste from Kachok will get an easy place for disposal,” said Nyong’o.
He said the new site would be modernised into a landfill which reduces any health hazards of the waste.
But on Tuesday, Shabbir said the interests of the area residents had not been taken into account on waste disposal.
komollo@standardmedia.co.ke
