Kampala Capital City Authority(KCCA) has announced that the decommissioning of the Kiteezi landfill has started.
Addressing journalists on Monday, KCCA Executive Director, Sharifah Buzaki said to aid in the decommissioning, they have received a USD1 million( Shs3.5billion) grant from the government of Japan.
“We have started decommissioning Kiteezi, flattening garbage heaps with USD 1 million grant received from the government of Japan through UN Habitat to mitigate immediate high risk at the landfill,”Buzaki said. Kiteezi landfill has been in operation since 1996 but in August 2024, tragedy befell the landfill as it collapsed, killing at least 34 people and injuring scores who were living near the facility.
The collapse of the landfill happened on the backdrop of warnings raised about the hazardous state of the landfill, with mountains of waste towering dangerously high as the facility lived long pasts its intended closure in 2015.
Speaking on Monday, Buzaki said as part of the decommissioning process, they will consider seven acres of the 39 where the landfill sits.
“On the seven acres, we intend to manage gas emission, steep slopes, leachate and improve drainage. This is ahead of a bigger process we are undertaking to source a contractor who can remediate and repurpose the remaining part of the Kiteezi land fill.”
