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Kisii’s Nyambera dumpsite shut amid health risk concerns
Kisii County government truck empties waste at the Nyambera dumpsite in Kisii town. The National Environmental Complaints Committee (NECC) has ordered its closure within six months.
The National Environmental Complaints Committee (NECC) has ordered the closure of the Nyambera dumpsite in Kisii town within six months.
This comes after numerous complaints from the public concerning the health risks posed by the dumpsite that is at the heart of Kisii town. The order also comes two years after the committee visited the county to assess the state of the environment.
NECC chairman Dr Lumumba Nyaberi regretted that two years later, nothing much had been done to improve the poor state of Kisii town’s environment.
"The state of the environment is no better than it was two years ago. It is in fact worse, and that is why the county residents have been complaining," he said.
Dr Nyaberi said the dumpsite is an "eyesore", given its position at the entrance to the town, the biggest in the South Nyanza region.
The dumpsite sits between Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH) and the Daraja Moja-Daraja Mbili road. Nyambera Primary School is located opposite the site.
"This dumpsite is poorly managed. There is no gate, and the fence is incomplete. Cattle are scavenging for food together with vultures. There are also people working in the quarries here, and that puts their lives in danger," Dr Nyaberi said.
A cow rests at the Nyambera dumpsite in Kisii town as birds feed from waste.
Seal shortcut
He also said the path cutting across the dumpsite, which is used as a shortcut between Nyambera and Daraja Mbili, should be sealed immediately and all human activities, including mining stones stopped.
He ordered that a gate be put up at the entrance to the site to control movement in and out of the area.
NECC secretary Dr John Chumo decried poor waste management in Kisii County, which, in addition to posing danger to the public, lacks economic benefit.
"It is unfortunate that in the 21st century, we are having such poor waste management procedures. We should be having a landfill or waste management facility, where such waste is recycled or turned into wealth by creating fertiliser and energy out of it," Dr Chumo said.
But Kisii County Environment Director David Simba said the county government has an alternative land in place at Nyatieko that they plan to use as the county's designated dumpsite.
Court cases
Mr Simba said that there have been efforts to relocate the dumpsite to other areas, including the Nyatieko site, but the steps have been derailed by court cases, public uproar and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Kisii County government spent Sh34 million to purchase the Nyatieko land about two years ago and designated it for a dumpsite and cemetery.
Unfortunately, the county cannot develop the site because there is a court order restraining any development on the land.
The 20-acre land in Kitutu Chache South constituency was meant to be used as a dumpsite and a public cemetery.
Trouble started last year when the county attempted to hive off 13 acres to be used for a public cemetery.
Alleged owners of the land prevented county officials from setting foot on the land until a domestic dispute over its ownership was resolved.
Waste management
Mr Simba, however, said that the county government is making efforts to better manage the waste, including recycling some waste.
"The County government has a plastic waste recycling plant at the Agricultural Training Centre which reduces the amount of plastic waste dumped at the Nyambera dumpsite," he said.
But NECC urged the county to immediately start segregating liquid from solid waste at the location and keep records of the waste collected.
Last year, the county government was asked to honour an agreement it consented to in court to vacate the Nyambera dumpsite.
The court had ordered that the county move out of the disputed area and undertake to fully wind up its dumping activities on or before December 31, 2016, but that has not happened.
The devolved unit said it faced serious limitations and logistical challenges of instantaneously relocating its dumpsite.
Officials approached the applicant and asked to be allowed to gradually comply with the court ruling and a decree issued earlier in June of that year.
River pollution
Meanwhile, environment watchdog Nema said it is working to minimise the waste being released to the rivers in the county.
Kisii County Nema director Leonard Ofula said that in 2019, the authority moved to seal 150 waste discharge points into the River Nyakomisaro, which runs through Kisii town.
"We arrested a number of the culprits and they were prosecuted. We also demolished several buildings which were constructed in the riparian land along the river, a move that made me get threats. I even had to leave the town for a few weeks," he said.
Keroka town was also said to have very poor waste management, with no sewer line and few septic tanks. Following last month's floods that displaced traders in the town, the Kisii government dug a storm drain that runs from Ichuni down the river valley through the town.
Revoke licences
However, in the NECC meeting held on Tuesday, it was established that most residents of Keroka are dumping waste into the storm drain that later found its way to rivers.
To solve the problem, NECC advised the county government to revoke the licences of buildings that do not have septic tanks, after issuing a year's notice.
Mr Simba acknowledged that Keroka has a problem with its waste management, especially because it is a border town shared by Kisii and Nyamira counties.
He noted that the two county governments tend to neglect the town, assuming it is the other county's responsibility to attend to the issues affecting it.
