Masaka City Council is considering expanding its privatised garbage collection model across the entire city as authorities seek a lasting solution to persistent waste management challenges. The city council introduced the model in 2022, when it partnered with two private companies to collect garbage in the central business district after the local government struggled to provide the service effectively.
Ronald Kasekende, the Nyendo-Mukungwe Division Chairperson, says the arrangement has proved effective, prompting city authorities to consider extending it to other parts of the city. Under the proposed model, households and businesses would pay between Shs2,000 and Shs5,000 per month, depending on their size, to private companies contracted to collect garbage weekly.
Kasekende says the city can no longer sustainably finance garbage collection because of declining local revenue collections and growing demand for social services. He says each of the city’s two divisions spends at least Shs20 million every month on fuel for garbage trucks collecting solid waste from communities.
Kasekende says shifting garbage collection to private operators would reduce the cost to the city and allow authorities to redirect resources to other priorities. He says the recently introduced National Cleaning Day exercise also exposed poor waste disposal practices among households, with many residents storing garbage in sacks and waiting for opportunities to dump it along roads, in low-lying areas and drainage channels.
Kasekende says a reliable private collection system would give residents a proper means of disposing of their waste and help curb irresponsible dumping. Meanwhile, Masaka City Environment Officer Pauline Nabadda says the city is profiling waste management actors operating in the area to identify appropriate ways of turning waste into valuable resources.
She says the technical team is also drafting an ordinance to support implementation of the proposed waste management policy. Nabadda says the policy is expected to address what she describes as chaotic garbage management practices in parts of the city, which pose risks to the environment and public health.
Kimanya-Kabonera Division Chairperson Joseph Mulinde says the authorities will also conduct public sensitisation campaigns to explain the proposed policy to residents and promote responsible waste management-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
