The National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) is formulating a solid waste management policy that will enable county governments manage their waste properly.
NEMA deputy director in charge of enforcement Salome Machau said the authority was working with other stakeholders to come up with rules and guidelines on waste management.
Identifying management of medical waste as one of the major challenges facing counties, the Director regretted that very few counties had the capacity to handle the poisonous waste with much of the waste finding its way into water bodies such as lakes and rivers.
According to her, private hospitals had facilities to treat their medical waste unlike the public ones particularly those in rural areas which do not have incinerators.
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“We have many mushrooming health centers across the country and this has created challenges in disposing off their medical waste,” she said.
Speaking during a consultative meeting at a Naivasha Hotel on Tuesday, Machau noted that some facilities were using street boys to dispose their waste.
She however said that plans were underway to come up with a solid waste management policy that will help counties rectify the mess adding that the authority was working closely with county governments, lead agencies, churches, the private sector and other stakeholders to come up with a good policy.
One of the NEMA representatives involved in the policy development, Dr Catherine Mbaisi said a draft bill on waste management was in place but added that more input from other stakeholders was expected to be included before it goes to parliament.
Mbaisi however challenged counties that were yet to formulate their guidelines on solid waste management in their regions to hasten the process which she said is critical in environmental conservation.
“We are ready to partner with counties in addressing the issue of solid waste management which has been a major concern in the country,” she said.
