By Henry MULINDWA
Interview! 90 Days Of Hajati Sharifah Buzeki’s Stewardship Of Kampala Capital City Authority! ED Speaks-Out On Key Milestones So Far! Roads, Garbage Collection, Noise Pollution Given Top Priority!
On Tuesday this week, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Executive Director Sharifah Buzeki marked exactly 3 months in that office. She came at a time when rubbish had taken almost a week without being collected and literally the city was full of stench almost every where! This and many more challenges welcomed her as she entered. But now, what’s the situation? What has she achieved? She appeared on BBS Terefayina last evening and ably dissected issues pertaining to the City in a popular talkshow program (Amaaso Ku Ggwanga) hosted by Steven Dunstan Busuulwa. Excerpts!
Qn. You have been in this office for now three months. What are the key achievements so far?
SB: On April 8, I made 90 days in this office as KCCA Executive Director. By the time I took over, I found rubbish had spent days without being collected. That day I took over, I spent it in Mpigi looking for where to put rubbish. Everywhere was littered. God helped us and we started collecting it. In these three months, I embarked on massive evacuation of garbage and I can proudly state that we have done some good work in this area. We have also sensitized the people on rubbish handling in their shops, restaurants, arcades etcetera. Generally, there’s behavioral change among people.
Qn. We have seen this Weyonje campaign which you launched. What is it about and is it serving it’s purpose?
SB: Weyonje campaign is an elaborate one. It involves sensitization of the people on how to handle rubbish. We tell them to separate rubbish between that which rots and that of kaveera and plastics. It’s something to emphasize that a cleaner City begins with you. Why separate the rubbish?
There are people who buy that garbage. Some are interested in plastics, others kaveera. So, if you separate garbage, it reduces on the amount of rubbish we take to the collection points. I want to state this that even if we buy 100 acres of land to dump garbage, they will get filled up. I thank the community, they have welcomed our campaign and have adopted to what we tell them. And we continue to go to the ground to talk and show them practically. The other day, we were in Kamwokya and Nakawa. This campaign started in the 2nd week of February and will take 3 months. We hope by then, people will have learnt. We hope by the 2nd week of May, it will be done in all the five divisions of Kampala.
The other campaign we launched is the Greening campaign. It involved beatification of the city. We want people to have where they can spend their money happily after days of hard work.
Qn. Is it KCCA which collects garbage or you have private companies involved in this?
SB: In all the five divisions, we have garbage collectors and we hope to increase on the number of companies. But even us as KCCA, we do. For example in institutions where there are many people like markets, schools, hospitals, we do collect it ourselves.
Qn. We’re in the rain season, and everytime it rains, people get worried. The other day floods cut off almost every entry into the City.
SB: KCCA, we’re mandated to ensure that when it rains, Kampalans don’t get disturbances. They should be able to move smoothly. We embarked on drainage channels clearance. Those days it could rain, and the floods remained the whole day. Even recently, when it rained heavily, you could see that yes, floods were there but for how long did this water remain there? It was within moments that the floods had cleared. This is far different from those days when people came wading through floods and went back home in floods. Now, we’re saying, if it flooded as you came, this water should not accompany you as you go back home in the evening.
Secondly, the nature of the culverts that were used to construct our drainage channels are outdated. They are circled in design. These were set up when we had less population in the city. Now the population has increased and the structures also. We therefore, have to find a way to change these Calverts. We’re replacing them with box Calverts. Our effort is to build, clear and achieve our target of zero (flood) holding period whenever it rains.
Qn. A few days ago, we saw a man in a viral video dumping garbage in a drainage channel. KCCA finally arrested him and he was charged. How did you manage to get him?
SB: I think you’re referring to Ronald Katende. What Kampalans have gone through because of floods, they are indeed angry. To get him, the residents helped us. My law enforcement team and police made an appeal to hunt for this man because rubbish is part of the reasons we face floods.
(However), our ultimate aim is not to charge people but to teach them how to be responsible. These (Ronald Katendes) are people who collect garbage from people but have nowhere to pour it. They wait for the rain and dump in the drainage channels. In Kinawataka, the (other day) we collected 40 trucks of garbage from that channel. So, we urge residents to be vigilant and arrest those people, bring them to us and we teach them what to do.
Qn. Tell us something about the multiple road constructions going on. The level of inconvenience to the people is too much.
SB: You remember there was a pothole exhibition in Kampala. By then, I wasn’t yet in this position. But as government and indeed myself, we all got concerned. In other cities like Mbale, Mbarara and Kamuli, this (multiple road construction) has been done. It’s not new. True, these roads are all under construction but what we should know is that they contribute to the well being of the vehicle. We only need to be patient for this work to be completed. Some roads were given a timeline of 36 months to be completed and others 18 months. We don’t want to inconvenience Kampalans.
What we need to know is that road construction requires patience and going through some processes such as waiting for some materials to first dry, before going on to add any new developments.
Qn. We’re seeing many wrangles in the City markets. What’s your take on this?
SB: It’s true, we have KCCA markets. When His Excellency the President assented to Markets Act in 2003, he gave KCCA authority to manage the markets. However, the markets also had their leadership which was opposed to the changes within the Act. But we’re working together with the leadership to align the markets. In the last three months, we have worked with those who operate them. For example, did you know even at the City Abbatouir there were issues? But we went there as leaders including the honorable minister for Kampala Hajati Minsa Kabanda, the Lord Mayor and myself to address the matter. The same we’ve done in Busega market. We told people to register to know who’s there and what he/she does. After, we give them security of tenure-tenancy agreement between us and you (traders) detailing everyone’s responsibility. As you know, markets have many people, we need to know them for security reasons and proper planning.
Those markets are incubation centers. They’re for low-income earners. People begin from there and graduate into shop owners in arcades. Secondly, we still have vendors on the road. We need to know which spaces are filled up and those available so that, those vendors can also be accommodated in those available spaces.
Qn. Is it true the people of Kiteezi should forget about compensation?
SB: It would be inhumane to tell the people of Kiteezi to forget about compensation. That’s being insensitive (to people’s feelings and what they went through).
When the Kiteezi tragedy occurred we did investigations and found about four categories of victims including those who died, those whose homes were covered, those whose houses were demolished to create a pathway to the site and those who lost property.
Currently, 2 weeks ago, the valuation process started by the Chief Government Valuer. There are those with storeyed houses and those with bungalows. That’s what they’re doing. If we get this figure, compensation will be done. We actually, held a meeting with the Head of Public Service Madam Lucy Nakyobe on this very subject of compensating the Kiteezi people. So, it’s work in progress.
Qn. There are concerns about noise pollution in different places including some places of worship. Already, the Chairperson Uganda Human Rights Commission Mariam Wangadya has issued a statement calling for action.
SB: This is another challenge we’re facing as KCCA. It’s a challenge on the side of enforcement. As KCCA, we got people who brought us noise monitors. These are machines we have already installed in Kansanga, Kyanja and in Kololo bars. We place them in the bar and it works similarly like speed governors. They are of two types. There’s one which automatically switches you (system) off and another one issues a receipt similar to the Express Penalty Scheme of police. It’s connected to the tax system. This means we start getting money (fines) from you. These machines when they reach certain Decibels, they make signals to us. Secondly, recently we got a complaint from people in Kyanja and we sent someone there but the problem persisted and we thought maybe our person was compromised. So, we said we need to reduce on person to person interaction. That’s why we got these noise monitors. This is a pilot program to last four months. We thank those people who volunteered to have the noise monitors placed in their bars and we appeal to people to accept these noise monitors because people want to have a rest after long hours of work. The children need to study and so on.
Qn. Under the Greening campaign, you’re telling people not to step in KCCA grass. Where should people chill from?
SB: It’s not true that we’re stopping people from resting while in Kampala. There are designated places where someone can sit. These include the Independence monument park, Watoto church area, Centinary park and others. We’re also hoping to add the Mayor’s Forest Park. So, people are allowed but what we tell them is not to step in the green belts meant to beautify our City. The flowers and the rest. We want a cleaner and beautiful City where people can happily enjoy their lives in a healthy environment. I appeal to city residents to stop walking in the green grass.
Qn. How are you getting on with the Lord Mayor?
SB: I have not had any problem with the Lord Mayor or the political wing of KCCA for the last three months I have been at the helm of the city. I believe that clashes between the technical wing and the political wing normally is as a result of usurping one’s powers. But if we all stay in our lane, things will move normally.
Qn. KCCA is located in Buganda. How are you working with Buganda kingdom?
SB: For your information, my children are born among the Butiko clan and you know what this clan does in the Lubiri. They dance for the Kabaka. Therefore, if I don’t listen and support it, as an individual, it affects me. As KCCA, we’re moving on very well with the kingdom and we’re grateful for this collaboration. The kingdom has been supportive to us especially in the area of infrastructure development mainly roads. Whereas some people ask for compensation for us to have access, this isn’t the case with the kingdom. This therefore, makes infrastructure development easier for KCCA and we appeal to others to emulate this gesture. As I conclude, I congratulate Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II upon his 70th birthday and I pray that he lives longer. He has indeed steered well the kingdom and championed development and empowered of his people. Long live Ss’abasajja Kabaka.
SOURCE: www.theinspector.co.ug
