Transporters Ask for Dumping Grounds in Parks, as Littering Bins Enforcement Starts.

Public transporters have requested the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to provide dumping grounds in parks where they can dump trash collected from their vehicles. 

This came up during the first day of the littering bins enforcement operations, following the end of the 30-day grace period granted to motorists in March. In February, NEMA, the body responsible for managing the environment, announced regulations aimed at reducing littering in the country. 

The regulations introduced an express penalty scheme of up to UGX 6 million for motorists who lack a trash bin in their vehicles. However, the regulations faced resistance from different sections of society, including the Uganda Law Society, which called them illegal and threatened legal action. The enforcement of the regulations was delayed from March, when they were first announced, until now.

During this period, public transporters requested more sensitization and preparation time. As this was granted, the transporters complained about the lack of dumping grounds in their parks, while NEMA directed all petrol stations to provide properly labeled dumping facilities for motorists to dump trash from their in-car littering bins. 

Under regulation 10 (2) of physical planning (planning conditions for the location of fuel stations) regulation SI No. 31 of 2022, all fuel stations are required to have at least three well-labeled litter bins for biodegradable, non-biodegradable, and toxic waste accessible to all travelers and motorists. Enforcement of these regulations began at the bus parks of Namayiba, Kisenyi, Global Bus, and Link Bus terminals, as well as the old and new taxi parks, and Nateete and USAFI. 

NEMA officials accompanied by the environmental police inspected vehicles in the parks, checking if they had littering bins and asking passengers about the bins and how they were used. The operators' representative, Nelson Ssemanda, manager of all the bus parks in Namayiba, informed NEMA officials that the operators had complied with the regulation and put littering bins in their vehicles. However, they faced the challenge of where to empty the bins. 

He stated that the trash cans they had stationed at different sites in the parks were too small compared to the trash collected from the buses, and they filled up quickly, creating dumping grounds that were not healthy since many people frequented the parks. Ssemanda added that the requirement to separate liquid waste from solid waste was also problematic since they did not have the facilities to do so. 

"Based on how NEMA has guided us about separating solid and liquid waste, I don't think we can do it at this moment when we are still struggling with dumping bins. However, this has also been a concern we are yet to solve because some passengers pour liquid waste in the trash baskets in our vehicles, which can't contain it and it ends up spilling all over the surface," he said. 

These concerns were the same in all the parks where NEMA operations took place on the first day. In response, Tonny Achidria, a NEMA representative, said that the authority had registered the concerns of the transporters and would work with responsible bodies to set up the required dumping grounds. 

"The need for dumping facilities in parks has been an issue of concern which has clearly come out from all the places the that the operation went to. Though we thought that working with petrol stations to provide trash facilities would help, but it seems more should be done in this line," says Achidria. 

Achidria added that since NEMA was not directly responsible for these facilities, they would engage local authorities like KCCA to provide them while continuing with their enforcement operations. Regarding the littering bins in vehicles, Achidria said that the transporters had largely complied, and the authority would start setting up impromptu roadblocks along all major highways to check on littering behaviors while in transit.

By URN