NMS Conducts Mass Inspection of Trucks in Nairobi

Garbage trucks during inspection in Nairobi on February 5, 2021.
Garbage trucks during the inspection in Nairobi on February 5, 2021.
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The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) on Friday, February 5, conducted a mass inspection exercise for trucks that would handle garbage collection in Nairobi.

This is after the agency contracted several private entities for the job after City Hall took to clear arrears owed to different garbage contractors amounting to Ksh1 Billion.

The lorries were paraded at Uhuru Park as contractors who had been given tenders for garbage collection in Nairobi estates.

A total of 25 contractors who had fleets of eight or more trucks took the vehicles for inspection as different companies have been given tenders to serve select sub-counties in Nairobi.

The garbage trucks during the inspection in Nairobi on February 5, 2021.
The garbage trucks during the inspection in Nairobi on February 5, 2021.
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Close to 80 percent of the solid waste in Nairobi is collected by private firms.

In some estates, including Makadara, Nairobi CBD, and Roysambu which do not have contractors, the county had been directly collecting the garbage.

In a bid to improve efficiency, NMS extended the collection duties to private contractors.

Garbage contractors had downed their tools due to unpaid arrears from March 2020 due to money owed by the county.

Their go-slow has seen filth piling up in various estates with residents urging the NMS to get rid of the uncollected waste.

NMS Director-General Mohammed Badi had earlier noted that cartels had infiltrated many sectors of the county including the garbage collection department.

He disclosed that some of the trucks filled stones in their trucks before adding a few layers of garbage that would seem heavier when measured hence more revenues for them.

To rectify the situation, Badi, soon after he assumed office, canceled all contracts that had been issued at the time and ordered for a fresh evaluation.

The trucks that were rehabilitated by NMS in Nairobi in October 2020.
The trucks that were rehabilitated by NMS in Nairobi in October 2020.
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