86 MOSES M. IKIARA, ANNE M. KARANJA AND THEO C. DAVIES
outside the public sector (NGOs, CBOs, international organisations, and some private
handling companies). Our survey, for example, indicated that about 5 percent of them
are involved in waste separation.
Disposal and the environment
The NCC does not control waste disposal even though it is the only agent authorised
to offer disposal services. The method of crude dumping applied at Dandora (a former
quarry) poses substantial ecological threats due to leakage of toxic substances. The
capacity of the site to assimilate the wastes has been seriously eroded and its life short-
ened due to the failure to design and implement a solid waste management policy.
Currently the NCC uses unofficial dumps due to the absence of transfer facilities, a
factor that has seriously affected the cleanliness of the city. The management of the
official dump has been so poor that neighbouring residents suffer serious health prob-
lems. The upsetting security situation on the dump, which seems to be totally out of
official control, helps to compound all of these problems.
As far as the private companies are concerned, even though they remove substantial
volumes of waste from residential areas and other parts of the city, only part of it is
disposed of in the official dumpsite. There are frequent complaints that most of the
private firms (particularly ‘brief case’ ones) dump waste in open places instead of the
official dumpsite in a bid to cut operational cost. Furthermore, private providers have
encouraged excessive use of plastic bags for waste storage, which poses new environ-
mental challenges. It is encouraging, however, that some private companies are
involved in environmental awareness campaigns.
The planned relocation of the official dumpsite from Dandora to Ruai is likely to
improve environmental impacts of final disposal, but may very well worsen the other
dimensions of sustainable development. The new site will be a sanitary landfill^7 and
will assimilate waste more effectively since its capacity is intact. In the long run, envi-
ronmental aspects of sustainable development will be determined by the quality of the
new dump’s management and the rate at which waste is deposited. The dump’s
location further away from the CBD coupled with lack of transfer facilities, however,
will lead more solid waste collection agencies to dump indiscriminately, with serious
implications on public health. The move is also likely to negatively affect the viability
of private firms. Fewer companies will be able to operate where such long haulage
distances have to be covered. This may mean loss of employment for the people
working in these companies and perhaps more importantly loss of a means of liveli-
hood for the dump waste pickers and dealers (estimated at about 2,000) located at the
- A sanitary landfill is a disposal technology wherein solid wastes are placed on impermeable soils that
protect groundwater, under laid with impermeable plastic membranes and drainage systems to collect
contaminated seepage for treatment, and ventilated with gas management systems.