By chacha
Provision of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation may remain a pipe dream to residents of Mukuru slums despite living in the 21st century and in the hub of the capital city Nairobi.
Mukuru Slums have a population of approximately 500,000
people according to the National census result of 2009.With that
population in mind, its only logical
that these people have access to clean drinking water, good toilets, good
infrastructure and services and good drainage and sewerage systems.
However that is not
the case as it is not part of
Government policy to support development in what are considered
illegal informal settlements.
A visit to these slums
could prove a hard task since the area is almost inaccessible especially during
the rainy season. The rains simply transform the area into a nightmare.
It is during “these hard times”
as the residents put it , that sewer lines block leading to the polluted water finding its way into their 10 by 10 feet houses.
If the rains persist, they are forced to evacuate their
humble homes and seek refuge in nearby churches, mosques and local
administration premises which too are sometimes not spared by the wrath of
industrial effluent and polluted rain water.
Health problems caused
by lack of clean water and adequate sanitation are rampant here. Malnutrition,
diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, pneumonia, malaria,
common cold and fever
are some of the cases that affect mostly children.
Lack of proper sanitation is an issue of urgency here and although pay
toilets have been set-up, the cost of accessing them remains high forcing them to use low-tech methods such as mobile
toilets, buckets collection, composting and the most popular the flying
toilets which litter the area and make it uncondusive for human habitation.
Kenya has 117 water
service providers which are linked to 8 regional water service boards
across the country and are in charge of asset management through service
provision Agreement.
The National Water Service Regulatory board (WASREB) carries
out performance benchmarking and is also in charge of approving tariff
adjustments in the country.
With such proper governing mechanism on board, it’s expected
that water should reach even arid parts of this country but the bitter truth is
that only nine out of 55 water service providers in the country provide continuous
water supply.
With the growing population in Mukuru Slums, the existing
water and sanitation facilities will be stretched even further. Lack of
resources and inability to address the increasing demand on clean water and
adequate sanitation system throughout the mukuru slums may not only threaten
the viability of the capital city as a whole but could transform relatively
viable areas within the city into slums.
