By Joseph Abiria

Arua City

Arua city is currently grappling with solid waste management challenges, the burden of urban waste management calls for a multi stakeholders approach.
According to reports from urban authorities of Arua City council, the city generates 200 tonnes of garbage in a day, Arua City spends about 40 Million shillings annually on waste management, but only 10% of waste is collected and managed properly.

Arua city has got five trucks that collect garbage regularly, but four of them are so far grounded down.  Garbage management is a sole responsibility of every body, this therefore calls for vigilance in disposing off garbage.

The production officer of Ayivu Division Robinson Draga asked urban authorities to intensify on levels of enforcement and accountability in garbage collection. “90% of solid waste generation comes from agriculture, therefore in our line ministry and also other sectors we do main streaming both technical and political, we want to engage you in monitoring,” he said.

Poor waste disposal pauses a lot of health risks to humans which could lead to outbreak of diseases.

According to Joyce Andrua, the city health inspector, management has created some structures to deal with solid waste disposal. “We now have community management at community level, they charge 1000 shillings per house hold,” she noted.

Meanwhile the environment officer of arua city Fred Asedri acknowledged that sensitization is key in creating better waste management practices. “Sensitization on public awareness on proper solid waste management, we also collect data on solid waste management and disseminating it, we are also involved in developing solid waste management strategies, the last one expired in 2020,” he emphasized.

During the launch of greening Uganda’s urbanization and industrialization project, the deputy mayor of arua city council Inzikuru Millicent Milly agreed that garbage management in the city is still a big concern because of urbanization. “on the issue of garbage management, we are on the spot light  because we are not doing enough, you know garbage generation in the city is a lot, one given the population, two the limitation of resources in managing garbage collection,” she remarked.

Starting next financial year Arua city council will   commit 30% of her budget towards garbage management. This will pave way for recycling of plastics and better management of organic waste.

COVER PHOTO: Participants pause for a photo after attending a training at Desert Breeze Hotel By Joseph Abiria