Street families residing and scavenging at the Mayungu dumpsite in Malindi town, Kilifi County, now want it relocated for health reasons.
Led by Mrs Jane Kalu, the families numbering 100 said that they have never benefited from the dumpsites over the years and that they are calling on the county government to start alternative income-generating activities for them.
The dumpsite that sits on a 50-acre piece of land has been a bone of contention, especially among residents of the posh Casaurina area which is regarded as the Runda of Malindi.
All manner of garbage and waste is dumped in the area, and a never-ending fire enables a continuous flow of toxic air as hazardous smoke bellows around the place, sometimes in a five-kilometre radius depending on the flow of the wind.
“I came here in 2001 while pregnant with my firstborn, and now I have seven children. and my work here is to scavenge so that I can get something for my family to eat. The smoke here is not healthy since the fire burns everything that is dumped here including hospital wastes and other dangerous waste,” she said.
In June last year, Mrs Kalu lost his 17-year-old son after he was knocked down by a garbage truck whose breaks failed while offloading garbage at the dumpsite and she narrated how such cases have been rampant.
“The food you throw away from your homes is what we depend on here. It is a squalor life. Everything includes needles, used condoms, acids, batteries, pampers, sanitary pads, expired hospital drugs and many other dirt and they are all mixed with the waste food that we end up consuming. We live by the grace of God,” she added.
She called on the county government to relocate the dumpsite to save them from the health hazard posed.
During a visit to the dumpsite, journalists came face to face with the life of a scavenger as Mrs Kalu and her fellow scavengers had found a rotting slaughtered goat that they said they washed, cooked and eaten inside the net to shield themselves from flies.
Mr ALI Muhaso, 40 years old, said that he was born and bred at the dumpsite and that the fire that burns the dumpsite is never lit by them but there has been a continuous fire that emits the dangerous smoke into the atmosphere.
“You see this fire here (pointing to a burning dry heap) started in 2018 and even the heavy rain that sometimes falls has been unable to put it out and we suspect it is more than just fire and maybe very dangerous chemicals burning from the ground,” he said.
He added that even the most dormant heaps of dirt contain continuous fire and when the county bulldozers arrive to flatten the area, then the fire gets exposed and a sharp inhaling smoke comes out.
“Most of us were born here and we have sired children here but I have never seen any benefit from the site. My father was here and he died without benefitting from the dirt, I am now here with my children but what I get is very little to even care for their educational needs. The nearest school is four kilometres away at Karima Primary School and we have to wait for our children to attain the age of at least eight years so that we can allow them to join school due to the security challenges around this place,” he said.
“If it has been donned on Governor Gideon Mung’aro to relocate the dumpsite, then we are fully behind the idea but he should give us an alternative livelihood before the exercise begins,” he said.