Counties

Mombasa seeks cleaners to get rid of piling garbage

garbage

Garbage is the bane of the tourist city of Mombasa. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The tourism city of Mombasa is stepping up efforts to get rid of heaps of garbage with planned employment of 65 cleaners.

The county government said in an advert it is looking to employ cleaners to supplement efforts by the department of environment to deal with the menace.

Governor Hassan Joho has been on the spot for failing to deal with the piling garbage in the county.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, have also criticised the governor for failing to get rid of the waste.

Over time, uncollected garbage has littered almost every space, including road reserves as well as residential and public areas in Mombasa.

The County Service Board has advertised vacancies for five cleansing supervisors and 60 general cleaners on a three-month non-renewable contract.

“Garbage has been our main challenge. High season is setting in and we need to have our town clean,” county communication director Richard Chacha told the Business Daily on phone.

“We have been criticised by many people mainly because of garbage. We want to address it once and for all and there are many other efforts we are taking to deal with it,” he said.

The garbage menace was massively used as a campaign tool by Mr Joho’s rivals — Hassan Sarai, Hezron Awiti and Suleiman Shahbal — who accused the governor of failing to clean the tourist city.

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In June, the Mombasa County Assembly passed a Bill on waste management. The Bill came on the heels of an outcry from hoteliers, the business community and residents over the mounting waste.

Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers (KAHC) Coast branch executive officer Sam Ikwaye termed the uncollected garbage an eyesore to locals and tourists.

He said tourists travelling by road from Moi International Airport to they city centre have to endure an intolerable stench from the Kibarani dumpsite.

Mr Chacha warned residents against littering. Anyone found littering faces an instant fine of Sh5,000 for failing to pay garbage collectors or dumping waste at non-designated places, states a proposed by-law.

The county has spent Sh2.3 million on building garbage collection points after phasing out the previous waste management system.