A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE: SOUTH B POLICE BAND CLEANUP

 Located in a 20 acre piece of land, the south B police band serves as housing for more than 500 police men and women with their families. A walk in the compound revealed one serious and common problem of waste management.

I could not help but notice the decomposing hips of garbage thrown away by the residents. The sites have attracted families of the unusual looking ‘undertaker bird’ otherwise known as the marabou stork. The naked head and neck birds are only left to camp at the dumpsites scavenging through the scraps and filth to find something to eat. Parking boys walk through the once protected compound to the dumpsites rummaging through the garbage to find materials that could be sold for recycling. The compound is literary filled with litter either scattered by wind or improperly discarded by residents due to lack of a waste management system.

Some of the volunteers collecting liter

However, with the help of mazingira safi initiative, the south b police post is gradually having a fresh new look thanks to the work that began with a community cleanup on the 22nd February 2014.