Lira City grappling with garbage collection

LIRA – Lira City Council is currently faced with the challenge of garbage collection and needs more resources to do the job better as it currently spends slightly above Shs 40 million quarterly on the exercise.

According to Sam Atul, the mayor of Lira City, dwellers dump waste materials anywhere, even after the authorities installed over 80 trash cans around the city mainly for the disposal of light waste items.

Atul further told this reporter the city council has challenges in managing the garbage at the compost site at Aler farm in Ngetta due to limited resources.

However, he said they will be engaging boda-boda cyclists to keep the city clean since they are among the people who dump rubbish carelessly.

“The amount of garbage generated in the city is high. We have made contacts with some of the boda boda riders to help us manage garbage within the city centre. We shall empower them to arrest, and fine the law breakers and the money will be theirs,” Atul said.

Moses Okori, the chairperson of Lira United Motorcycle Boda-boda Association [LUMBA] said they would work with the city council to ensure cleanness in the city.

“It is very possible that boad boda riders can manage the poor disposal of garbage because they are always around the city,” Okori said.

Jimmy James Michael Akena, the Lira City East Member of Parliament said some of the items sorted from the collected garbage should be used to generate revenue for the city council and resources reserved for garbage collection.

“I am fully aware of the financial limitations which exist in Lira City Council. The garbage should therefore be sorted so that some resources are generated from items like manure, and plastics among others,” Akena said.

Gladino Opio, a resident of Kirombe village, Omito ward, Lira City West Division called for more garbage bins to be installed along the routes. “They [Lira City Council] should install dustbins in all the busy places,” Opio said.

According to Leonard Otika, the Lira City environment officer, over 85 trash cans that were installed along the busy routes within the city centre were removed as people were dumping in solid waste yet the bins were meant for the disposal of  light items plastic bottles, and polyethene bags.

“People have been abusing the trash cans. We had to remove them from the major routes within the city centre. We have only maintained them around the public offices,” Otika said.

https://thecooperator.news/gulu-city-garbage-truck-to-impounded-over-shs-40mln-debt/

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