Nairobi’s Ruai dump site opposed

The Kenyan ministry of local government has requested that Nairobi's city council source an alternative site for waste disposal, following opposition to a dump site in Ruai as proposed by the independent governmental agency Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The aviation sector is against the Ruai location as it is situated along the flight path from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and could put aircraft at risk from bird strikes.

Despite the opposition, on 17 April JICA presented its plans for the project in Ruai which is already home to sewerage treatment plants as well as a number of displaced families.

In 2009 the city's Dandora dumping facility was transferred to abandoned quarries in the eastern Nairobi district of Kayole as an interim measure while the council waited to move operations to Ruai once plans were finalised.

Located in the eastern Nairobi suburb of Embakasi, the 12-hectare Dandora is a notoriously-toxic dump which has caused the surrounding area to be listed as one of the most polluted in the world.

The disposal of waste has become an increasingly serious challenge to Nairobi whose rapid urbanisation continues to exacerbate the problem.