The Lake Tanganyika Water Management project is partnering with the Legal Unit of the Municipality of Kigoma/Ujiji (Tanzania) to review the solid waste municipal by-laws. Indeed, the municipal solid waste management system cannot be financially sustainable without a coherent, responsive, enforceable, well-structured and consensual regulatory framework.
As stated by the Acting Municipal Director during the plenary session of the full councilors, “Clear bylaws in terms of roles and responsibilities, promoting best practices and encouraging the participation of all and holding accountable each stakeholder is a driving force for a sustainable and proper solid waste management system.”
The Latawama project recall that the process of review of solid waste bylaws is crucial for two main reasons:
- Firstly, if the Municipality and its partners are to bring about an improved, viable, and financially sustainable municipal solid waste management system, they must be guided by adapted and enforceable bylaws.
- Secondly, the principles of 3R (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse) and circular economy, if they are to be implemented, must be constructed upon solid foundations provided by unequivocal bylaws.
Moreover, it was reminded to the participants that tackling the challenges of solid waste management in the city of Kigoma is the best way to achieve other pressing goals such as the creation of decent, green, and inclusive jobs, lifting the unprivileged groups (primarily women and youth), mitigating the effects of climate change and pollution, etc. The process of review of these by-laws paves the way toward a more circular, greener, inclusive, and fairer world.
Revising the bylaws is a participatory process that has gathered the views and opinions of all social and economic strata, including the council’s management team, the neighbourhood development committees, and the people