George Buzene is the Technical Operations Manager of Kigali Septic Services. Since there is no central sewage system in Kigali, he says people opt for septic tanks and waste water treatment plants. The soft spoken Buzene was born on April 24TH, 1957 in Byumba District before going to exile in Uganda. The 53-year old-Buzene attended Rwamurunga Primary school, Mutolete Secondary School for O’ Level and joined St. Joseph Technical Institute Kisubi. “I later went to Kenya to upgrade on my studies, while there I joined Kenya Polytechnic Nairobi. I have been in the field of technical plumbing, construction and septic services for a period of 20years therefore experience is the best teacher,” Buzene said. He has worked for several companies such as National Housing Corporation in Uganda, Zibuco technical services, Addra/Unicef and Harbert International. In January 2010, he joined Kigali Septic Services where he earns a monthly income close to USD500 that he uses to provide for his wife Epiphania Kagambage and his daughter and two sons. His memorable tasks at work Sometimes they work up to 36 hours to rectify problems that arise from blocked drainage systems. “In such cases we work with maintenance engineers who help us to allocate the blocked passages or pipes because they know the setup of the area so we don’t dig up unnecessarily. We can also determine the blockage by the flow of water,” he said. To make their work easy, Buzene disclosed that they are planning to purchase underground video surveillance cameras. These will be used to detect the affected areas with minimal damages. To reduce air pollution, Buzene explained that: “Before we empty the septic tank, we drop organic products (Organic Solution Secondary) to curb down the bad odor. It’s our goal to protect people and the environment.” The services offered range from septic removal, drainage unplugging, soak pit restoration and industrial cleaning. The smaller truck that sucks out sludge is hired at a cost Rwf60,000 while the biggest is Rwf90,000 per route. The sludge collected is then deposited at the land fill in Nyanza at a cost Rwf5000 per truck. For the greasy places like in restaurants or industries a Hot industrial cleaning machine is used. The machine contains steam of 3000PSI (pounds per square inch pressure) that cleans up the pipe system. “If the services are to be conducted outside Kigali, we charge for the mileage. However, consultation services are free of charge,” Buzene said. “Our vision is to merge with other companies to recycle wastes and form a source of energy instead of just dumping it at the land fill,” Buzene said. His favorites Dish: Fish and chips Colour: GreenMusic: Kinyarwanda Artist: Masamba Sports: Soccer Soccer player: Samuel Eto’o Quote: ‘Protect the environment’ Dorau20@yahoo.co.uk
