By Joseph Tumushabe

18^th July 2011: Let me contribute my little share to the improvement of Kampala’s image and by extension other urban areas of Uganda. I will address myself to the sticky issue of garbage collection. Kampala City Council’s capacity to collect and manage solid waste effectively as an institution ended in the 1970s. So I suggest that KCC should move out of solid waste management and leave it to the more efficient private sector.

Step One: Declare that solid waste is the sole responsibility of the individual, group or company that creates that waste and not KCC.

Step Two: Remove all garbage skips from the places they are occupying and take them to the KCC yard.

Step Three: Invite all people who want to go in the lucrative garbage collection business to register with KCC immediately.

Step Four: Pronounce that the collection of garbage should be negotiated and paid for between the one that has the garbage and the garbage collectors.

Step Five: Issue permits to about 10 operators only to do the garbage collection and let each of them compete with the other in undertaking the collection of the garbage. Since each operator’s business will depend on their negotiation with their clients, we shall soon witness competition turning to rivalry over spheres of influence on who collects garbage from where!

Step Six: Train a team of garbage monitoring askaris [guards] and let them arrest and fine whoever is dropping as much as a cigarette butt on the street, pavement or in a park. Such a person should immediately be arrested and be forced to pay a city dirtying fine of not less than Shs.50,000/=.  The arresting askari should be paid 30% of all fines collected on a weekly basis as a result of their personal intervention in successful prosecution of offenders.

Step Seven: KCC should in the short-term identify suitable sites for landfills and purchase these and allow the garbage collecting companies to use them in an orderly fashion. After the first year each company should identify and manage own landfills. Moreover, they will be making huge amounts of money from garbage creating city residents.

Step Eight: After the second year, the garbage collecting companies should be required to pay taxes to KCC to participate in the lucrative garbage removal and management business.

Step Nine: By the 4th year, KCC should re-assess the companies and license only those with capacity to re-cycle garbage.

Lord Mayor, make garbage collection a golden business for serious operators.  People have idle trucks packed in your city.  These trucks will soon be hired by those that have obtained permits. There are many unemployed youths who can earn as much as 50,000 per day from restaurants, residences, and businesses.

All they have to do is pass around with wheel barrows and negotiate garbage collection deals and then pay lorry owners to transport and getting rid of the garbage.  In this way, we shall all be happy.  Those who create garbage should know that they will have to pay directly for its removal.

This will make them avoid creating much garbage because the more they create, the more it will cost them.  Over to you Mr. Lord Mayor! END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.