NEREAH OKETCH: Collaboration key in city waste management – The Star Kenya
With a population exceeding four million, Nairobi county has an accelerated solid waste generation, and environmental burden and challenge for the residents and leadership.
The new county administration led by Governor Johnson Sakaja has earnestly taken up enforcement of the national solid waste management regulations.
The political statement of publishing the arrest and arraignment of a manager of a local supermarket is a poignant indicator of the power of public opinion.
While this action is commendable since Kenya’s key issue has been enforcement, the county government should adopt a holistic and institutionalised approach to managing waste, particularly one that also drives the government agenda of employment and wealth creation.
Waste management in the context of rapid urban population should leverage on social networks established by city dwellers to combat the effects of congestion on the environment.
Providing incentives for segregation, transport, recycling, reuse and repurposing waste are viable ways to sustainably control and finance waste management.
A walk through Kibera slums will confirm to anyone that Nairobi county is far away from attaining optimal waste management with open dumpsites, openly flowing drainage and sewerage and indiscriminate behaviour of littering, telling a different story from the suburbs with organised and privately funded waste management mechanisms.
Insufficient resource allocation towards waste management results in weak institutional structures, resulting in weak enforcement measures.
This challenge should be addressed from a job and wealth creation lens by expanding the public private partnership model to the community oriented public people private partnership model, which guarantees ownership of the solid waste management process.
This approach combines private sector innovations and engages social networks and the business community in informal settlements where at least 60 per cent of the city’s population reside resulting in win-win solutions.
This approach will resonate with the hustler nation ideology of building from the bottom because it is a people-centred partnership, which allows for innovative business models that enable the improvement of living conditions through job creation.
Moreover, the proposal for a viable and sustainable community-based waste management system recognises the unique roles played by organised youth and women groups as key beneficiaries and resource in the implementation process.
The county government must lead and formalise community waste collection structures before installation of waste recycling infrastructure and training to these groups.
The key to unlocking waste earning potential is setting up accessible locations to serve as trading centres for waste.
TraCe hubs will be staffed with residents and equipped by the county government.
Recruitment of household point persons will be organised through resident associations to identify those who will undergo community-based training and planning.
The TraCe hubs will attain self-sufficiency through business linkages to suppliers and buyers and a smooth logistics system.
The Office of the Governor being the most important in this project, will make this community-centred model a priority in his plans by linking it to the newly created office of the county executive for Hustler and Business Opportunities.
This project must feature in the county integrated development plans and subsequent annual development plans.
Linkage to the national government’s Hustler’s Fund will make this project economically viable in the long run, when a business connection is made between garbage collection groups, the recycling industry and producers.
This approach also presents an opportunity to upscale existing partnerships and interventions with civil society, entrepreneurs and development partners towards the goal of a clean, green and sustainable Nairobi county.
Residents will be involved in design through project implementation and oversight committees endorsed by community leaders and legally registered.
These committees will have power and resources devolved to them through community managed funds to run designated waste collection centres.
The committees will work through and within the community to change household attitudes towards waste management through education and public awareness to ignite responsible behaviour towards the environment.
The private sector partner identified for this project will provide co-training on the utilisation of the community managed funds and innovations on at-home and communal waste management best practice.
Nereah Oketch is a former nominated MCA in Homa Bay County and Winner of Season One of Ms President TV Show.
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