The MPs have enacted a bill that will see individuals dumping waste to pay fine of unto Sh4 million or a jail term of four years if passed.
This is after the fines levied by the county government were cited to be low and failed to deter dumping of waste that pollute the environment and risking human health.
The bill seeks to control the growing air, soil and water pollution in the country.
The National Sustainable Waste Management Bill drafted by the ministry of environment states that, “A person who commits an offence under this Act or regulations made thereunder…shall be liable, upon conviction, to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than four years, or to a fine not less than Sh2 million and not more than Sh4 million, or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
Further, the bill proposes a Sh5 million fine to public or private companies that will fail to manage their waste in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
“Public and private entities that do not manage their waste in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be required to clean up and restore the site the entity was using to its natural state and pay a fine of not less 5 per cent of their net income registered in the previous tax year, or Sh5 million, whichever is higher,” states the bill adding that the chief executives of the polluting companies will face up to four years in jail upon conviction.
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The country is struggling with pollution especially in urban areas where littering is the order of the day.
The waste, according to the Ministry of Environments includes: domestic waste, forestry, municipal, horticultural, aquaculture, biomedical pesticides, hazardous industrial waste and toxic substance.
The ministry is set to achieve a zero waste status through minimised waste generation, separation at source, enhanced collection, re-use, recycling and disposal of unusable waste to secure sanitary landfills.
The environment authorities in the country banned the use of plastic bags in 2017 that has seen improvement to the environment in terms of pollution.
