By Wajir Today Reporter

Islamic Relief Kenya on Tuesday donated a kitty of two million shillings to help youth in Wajir town to  set up garbage collection points aimed at enhancing plastic waste management while offering employment opportunities.

The unveiling function held in Wajir town was attended by various youth groups from five locations, representatives from County Government of Wajir and officials from Islamic Relief Kenya.

The project dubbed Enhancing Plastic Waste Management and Youth Employment in Wajir is expected to improve the aesthetic appearance of the town while at the same time offering youth start up opportunities to engage in income generating activities.

Wajir County Executive Committee Member for Education, Social Welfare and Family Affairs Mr. Ahmed Wardere who graced the occasion hailed the project as a vital step that helps the employment of local youth while addressing hygiene gaps.

“This project will play a key role in cleaning plastics wastes across Wajir town, giving us a cleaner and healthier environment while creating employment opportunities for our youth, keeping them engaged in productive work,” said Mr. Wardere

The County education boss cited how the project will be help Wajir deal with emerging issues such as drug addiction and human trafficking by offering alternative livelihoods that will make youth productive.

“The project will reduce the lure of drugs and substance abuse by keeping our young generation positively occupied. It will provide an alternative livelihood that discourages involvement in illegal human trafficking (Tahrib)” added Mr. Wardere

The initiative also seeks to encourage self-employment and business ownership, boosting youth morale and giving them a sense of purpose in the vast county where youth unemployment remains a rooted crisis.

The County Government praised the Islamic charity for providing support to the community in addressing gaps in socio-economic bottlenecks.

“I sincerely thank Islamic Relief Kenya for this investment in our people and for believing in the potential of our youth” noted Mr. Wardere

Beneficiaries

Project beneficiaries have termed the initiative as a timely intervention that will improve public hygiene while at the same time offer them start up opportunities to engage in economic activities.

“We are happy about the project because plastic is a problem in our town. We are going to clean the town and the effect of plastic waste on the environment will be reduced” said Shakil Mohamed Salah, Vice Chairman of Ecofriendly Youth Group.

The youth have expressed willingness to expand the project by creating community awareness about the dangers of plastic waste in a bold campaign that also seeks to address the impact of climate change.

“The town’s image has been destroyed by plastic waste which creates a toxic environment. Plastic waste also damages the aesthetic appearance of the town” observes Mr. Abdi Adan, Chairman of a youth group from Hodan location.

Islamic Relief Kenya has been conducting a yearlong mentorship and training to various youth groups from the town to build their capacity in handling and managing plastic wastes and improving local environment.

“As youth from Wajir, this project will help us a lot. We really appreciate Islamic Relief Kenya for offering us a lot of training about plastic waste management” Mr. Adan says

Wagberi Ward Administrator Mr. Aden Ahmed agrees that the project will help address the double tragedy of unemployment and environmental degradation.

“It will create job for the youth groups while improving public hygiene in our town. It is a programme that is addressing two problems at the same” said the Ward Administrator

Wajir town is inundated by massive heaps of uncollected plastic waste that has caught the attention of well-wishers  like Islamic Relief Kenya to help Wajir municipality address the problem of waste management.

According to a recent Municipality Solid Waste Management Policy, the municipality collects an estimated 4000 tons of waste every month. With lower capacity to manage garbage, this figure is far beyond the large quantity of trash thrown in the town including plastic wastes.

“Disposal of waste in Wajir Municipality remains a major challenge as the municipality is grappling with unregulated waste flow from the neighborhoods into the central business district and limited disposal sites with no established modern waste management facility” reads part of the policy published in 2023.

With increasing pressure on the Municipality to address unregulated waste flow in the town, Islamic Relief Kenya hopes to instills ownership and obligation in waste disposal.

“We are supporting 50 youths from five locations in Wajir town with each group receiving Kenya Shillings 400,000. Islamic Relief Kenya initiated this project to create job opportunities for the youth and address the problem of plastic waste” said Noor Mohamed Osman a representative of Islamic Relief Kenya