The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has assessed the progress of the Kiteezi landfill rehabilitation project, with officials saying works are nearing completion.
The KCCA executive director, Sharifah Buzeki, has urged residents around Kiteezi to support the project by improving waste management practices, including waste reduction, recycling and proper garbage disposal.
Buzeki, accompanied by her deputy Benon Moses Kigenyi and the authority’s director for public health and environment, Dr Sarah Zalwango, made the appeal during a site inspection at the Kiteezi landfill rehabilitation facility in Wakiso.
“We have come here to assess the progress of the Kiteezi landfill rehabilitation project and to engage with the technical team on site. I urge the public to support the rehabilitation process,” Buzeki said.
She said collective responsibility was critical as Kampala transitions to a more sustainable and resilient solid waste management system. She added that the ongoing works demonstrate the authority’s approach to addressing urban environmental challenges and ensuring a safer and cleaner city.
During the inspection, the KCCA team observed ongoing works, including cutting down steep and unstable waste cliffs, terracing high risk sections and stabilising the garbage mass to prevent further collapse.
Engineers are also installing a network of leachate collection and gas ventilation pipes, with several already laid. The team was briefed on how the leachate system will channel waste fluids to treatment ponds, significantly reducing environmental and public health risks.
The year long project, valued at $1 million (Shs 3.5 billion) is funded by the Japanese government in partnership with UN-Habitat. The project will decommission about 10 acres of the landfill, equivalent to approximately 250,000 cubic metres of waste.
The works are being implemented using the Fukuoka method, a Japanese engineered landfill management system designed to stabilise old dumpsites while reducing methane emissions.
In addition to reshaping waste slopes and installing methane ventilation systems, the project includes the construction of leachate treatment ponds and capacity building for KCCA staff to strengthen long term operations.
The Kiteezi rehabilitation project follows the partial collapse of the landfill in August 2024, in which 34 people lost their lives and homes and property were destroyed. The incident prompted KCCA to fast track emergency interventions to secure the site and protect surrounding communities.
Despite the progress at Kiteezi, KCCA continues to grapple with heavy garbage volumes across Kampala’s five divisions, even after the identification of a new landfill site at Buyala.
The authority says it has also intensified public sensitisation initiatives, including the Weyonje programme, to promote proper waste management and garbage collection as the Kiteezi rehabilitation project nears completion.
