Dar city pollution on the rise

By Emmanuel Onyango

Dar es salaam city is once again reported to be experiencing an increase of urban centres’ environmental degradation.

Kariakoo business centre, one of the largest and busiest centers in the country has been cited as one of the worst hit areas and it is reported that garbage heaps are beginning to pile because responsible authorities are alleged to be leaving the litter uncollected for up to three month or even more.


Other hard hit areas include residential areas in Temeke, Kinondoni, Mwenge, Sinza and Bunju to mention but a few.

An environment officer with a private firm and who opted for anonymity said the situation is so due to the lack of sufficient and appropriate working facilities coupled with poor technology.

A city resident one Jane Mwambesi, said it is surprising that the city authorities are idle while the situation worsens and lamented the health dangers so posed by the increased garbage pollution.

In a recent exclusive interview with the Guardian, Environmental Health Officer for Ilala Municipal, Hassan Mkumbwa, blamed the situation on the increasing population of the city saying the amount of trash been disposed is increasing while their capacity remains minimal.

Another Environmental Health Officer this time from the City Council, Membe Protus, acknowledged the dire situation but blamed it on the just ended long rains.

He said the speed of garbage collection in most parts of the city has reduced because most road infrastructures were damaged by the rains – making it difficult for their trucks to navigate into the small streets.

Elaborating , Protus who is the Acting Head of Waste Management Department at the City Council said their trucks are having a hard time making it to the Pugu Kinyamwezi dumping site because the main road was heavily damaged by the rains.

According to him, another reason is ongoing maintenance work on their fleet of trucks which he said has reduced the number of trips they were running to only 80 instead of 150 a day.

“Currently, the three municipal councils of the city, Ilala, Kionondoni and Temeke collect between 1,500 and 2,000 tons of garbage out of the produced 4,252 tonnages per day,” he revealed. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN