Arua city grapples with plastic waste
Nalwadda Nsangi
Many Ugandans have gotten used to packaging everything in polythene bags and other types of plastics.
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Yet polythene bags, commonly called as Kaveera, have a significant contribution to the environmental pollution and other detrimental impacts that exacerbate the climate crisis.
Kaveera is widely used mostly for packaging but its disposal has remained unchecked thus making its existence more of a danger to the environment.
In Arua city, the people who use kaveera remain complacent and dispose it along the roads and in water streams that end up being clogged during the rainy season.
The leaders in the city are fully aware of the dangers of kaveera if not used or disposed of properly.
Paul Batanda, the Arua City Clerk, said they cause water to stagnate which brings about a foul smell.
"If they happen to land in the gardens, they cause mayhem. If the roots of any crop encounter Kaveera, that is the end of that crop as it withers away," Batanda said.
Batanda Paul, said on each given day, the authority is capable of disposing off only 40 kilogrammes of different kinds of plastics out of an enormous amount produced.
"Some bottles and polythene are thrown in areas where we cannot reach, we don’t recycle plastics here so it’s very expensive for us as the city to dispose of all kinds of plastics," he said.
He adds that the city authority pays people to collect all types of plastics including polythene bags, and empty water bottles whereby they employ people to collect and dispose them off.
"We pay Shs 20,000 for three weeks to the people collecting bottles and plastics, but we also want to come up with a policy to employ them as causal labourers where one can be tasked to clean like four streets. They will be working from morning to evening”
Nelson Dada Dijay, the chairman of Arua city market, said they had come up with an environmental action plan, to cause behavioural change and encourage people to safely dispose of plastics.
"Number one is a mindset change. However much you put bins in the city, it will still be a challenge, we need to sensitise people to appreciate the environment, two, it’s incumbent on the city to come up with infrastructure, we want to make sure every shop in the city has a rubbish bin to control littering. if one does not have a rubbish bin, they will not be in position to receive a trading license," said Dijay.
He said government and all other actors in the society have an obligation of enforcing the laws governing the single-use plastics.
NBS TV's Taasa Obutonde environmental campaign is geared towards saving mother nature through educating Ugandans and creating awareness on managing and disposal of plastics, and opting for other environmentally friendly alternatives
