Breath of fresh air after Mombasa shuts down dumpsite near school

*The Manyimbo transit dumpsite in Mombasa*

Learners at Busy Bee School can now breathe fresh air after the Mombasa county government shut down a garbage collection point and illegal dumping site that has been a menace.

The Manyimbo garbage collection site is one of three sites that have been shut down by the county in a move expected to raise its rank even higher in cleanliness in Africa.

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Mombasa was recently ranked as the 18^th cleanest city in Africa by The Africa Report.

Busy Bee principal Dorothy Kaimuri on Thursday said the dump site behind the school has been a menace for over two years, sometimes making learners throw up, while other times learners missed classes to go for medication.

“It was really inconveniencing the school programme. The stench was unbearable. But we thank God that yesterday they said they have closed it,” Kaimuri said.

She received a call from the governor’s office about the closure and some videos were sent to her phone for confirmation.

“I have gone to check and indeed they have closed it and I have realised that there is no dumping going on. I just hope that this time it remains that way permanently,” Kaimuri said.

A neighbouring church also had complaints about the garbage.

Tudor MCA Samir Bhaloo lauded the county for shutting down the garbage collection point on Wednesday.

He said the transit dumpsite used to cause a lot of conflict between the county and the residents.

“This school, Busy Bee, used to be the most vocal complainant. We are glad that we are now making progress and I assure the school that the dumpsite will never be opened again, ever,” Bhaloo said.

He warned the county executive against slacking saying should garbage be dumped at the site, he would mobilise residents to collect it and dump it at the governor’s office.

Mombasa county environment and solid waste management chief officer Hamid Shehan said the transit dumpsite has now been shut down permanently.

“We are fortunate that we have managed to keep a promise we made to Busy Bee, Commission on Administrative Justice and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

“The promise was that we would close down the collection point at Manyimbo. Yesterday was the day that we officially closed that site. It has been a long journey,” he said.

The county had previously closed the transit dumpsite but unforeseen challenges forced them to reopen it.

“We want to assure residents of Tudor that we are going to keep that collection point shut,” he said.

Shehan said apart from the Manyimbo collection point, they have also closed down the Kalu Works King’orani and the Liwatoni DOC collection points after uproar from residents.

He said the Material Recovery Facility that was established at the environment department’s yard at Mwembe Kuku has helped them manage to close down the transit dumpsites.

He said the management of the MRF, which is surrounded by both residential and business premises, is such that there is constant treatment and no smell can be felt.

“There are strong protocols that we observe. Twice a day, we spray safety chemicals and every Sunday we do a complete wash of the whole yard. This has helped us maintain the low levels of smell,” Shehan said.

He said the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) have been impressed with the work.

“Nema now wants other counties to benchmark with us because in other counties this has not worked,” the official said.

Shehan said they are now on a pilot programme to harness biogas from the waste that is collected at the MRF.

“We have contracted someone to try and see what amount of waste produces what amount of biogas that we can sell,” the chief officer said.

He noted that cleanliness of the county is a responsibility of every resident and should not be left to the county alone.

“I am a Mombasa resident and I will ensure that sensitise the masses to understand that cleanliness of the environment is a responsibility of each and every one of us,” Shehan said.

He noted that the cleaner the county, the less the cost on health of the residents.