The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has acquired 210 more garbage trucks to bolster its bid to rid Nairobi County of the growing garbage menace.
The move by NMS proceeds complaints by residents and local leaders alike regarding the growing heaps of filth in some of the estates.
The new trucks will be handed out to contractors who had been hired earlier to coordinate and conduct the collection exercises.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director-General Mohammed Badi inspect garbage collection trucks. |Photo| Courtesy|
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NMS at the moment has 22 trucks, which it has deployed in collecting garbage across the 17 sub-counties in Nairobi.
The General Mohammed Badi-led entity had acquired another five trucks but are yet to be deployed in the exercise.
In October 2020, NMS restored the 22 trucks after they had been grounded for over eight years.
A report by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) indicated that about 3,000 tonnes of waste is produced in Nairobi on a daily basis. However, the collection capacity stands at slightly above 2,000 tonnes.
NMS Environment Deputy Director Maureen Njeri on March 1 revealed that they had hired private contractors with their own trucks, expected to help in garbage collection within Nairobi estates.
This will see NMS have about 232 trucks at its disposal for garbage collection. This is up from the current 22 trucks.
"We are done with the procurement and what is remaining is issuing the contract letters," Mrs Njeri stated.
She stated that the contractors will collect garbage from all designated collection points in all the 85 Nairobi Wards. Njeri indicated that the number of collection points per ward will depend on the population.
NMS continues its efforts to clean up the city, adding to several other prior initiatives.
On February 27, the entity launched the expansion of sewer lines covering up to 400 kilometers in Nairobi.
The project is expected to cost up to Ksh1.6 billion and will be undertaken in partnership with the Ardhi Water Works Agency. The project will take five years.
File image of a garbage heap along a Nairobi street. |Photo| Courtesy|
