By Faridah Kulabako
Traders operating in and around Ggaba Beach market have been urged to embrace proper waste disposal by utilizing the donated garbage skips to improve sanitation and hygiene.
The call was made by the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (IRA) Chief Executive Officer, Alhaj Dr. Kaddunabbi Ibrahim Lubega as he handed over two garbage skips to Ggaba Beach market, Makindye division.
This is the second donation the Authority is making to markets around Kampala in an effort to support responsible waste management in the city. The first donation was made to the Nateete market, Rubaga division in July this year.
Alhaj Dr. Kaddunabbi handed over the skips to the market leadership through Kampala Capital City Authority management. He said IRA thought it important to support KCCA’s ongoing campaign on separation of garbage into organic and inorganic to improve waste management, especially in markets and also make waste useful.
He said that well sorted organic waste can be used to generate electricity and fertilizers while inorganic waste can be recycled to produce other usable things.
“Previously, people have been mixing all different kinds of waste which makes it unusable, thus making markets dirty. With this donation, we want people to start separating organic from inorganic waste to make it easy for people who want to reuse it for different purposes,” he said.
The donation is part of IRA’s Corporate Social Investment efforts and demonstrates IRA’s responsibility towards achieving a sustainable environment.
The KCCA Town Clerk for Makindye division represented by the deputy Town Clerk Mr. Paul Zimbe applauded IRA for supporting their efforts towards a cleaner city. He noted that garbage was one of the teething challenges in the market.
He also urged traders to wholly embrace the waste sorting habit, saying that sorting increases the value of waste, which will in turn reduce waste and result in a cleaner market.
The Ggaba Beach market Chairman, Mr. Francis Sabiti Katuramu applauded IRA for the donation and encouraged traders to abide by the waste-sorting guide to keep their environment clean all times.
The Manager Corporate Affairs at IRA, Ms. Mariam Nalunkuuma rallied market vendors to buy insurance to safe guard themselves against unforeseen risks.
“You can insure against fire; you can have health insurance, education insurance for your children or agriculture for the farmers that bring produce in markets. A risk will not warn you when it is coming, but when it happens, let it find you when you have a fallback position,” she said.