Sanitation services within Murang’a town are expected to improve once the management of the urban centre is put under a semi autonomous municipal authority.
Garbage collection and sewerage services will be also be streamlined since the municipal authority will be allocated enough funds to improve services and upgrade the town.
The county executive member for Lands and Housing Ms Sarah Masaki said the move to put the town under a municipality under a programme dubbed ‘Smart Cities’ will improve sanitation standards of the town which have been deteriorating in the past years.
Speaking when she led an exercise to clean up the town, Masaki also noted that Kenol town in Murang’a south is also earmarked to be managed by the new municipality.
The municipality, she added will be semi-autonomous and will get funding from the national and county governments and will be run by a board.
“The municipality will be mandated to manage the towns and this will help in improving sanitation and management of operations of the town,” she added.
Earlier, funds for cleaning towns within the county were allocated through the department of environment and were not enough to provide proper sanitation.
“Murang’a town from next year will be managed by a municipality and this is a good move as more resources will be deployed to improve sanitation among other services within the town,” added Masaki.
Speaking during the exercise, Murang’a township administrator Mr. Jeremiah Mwirigi said delays in garbage collection within Murang’a town has been occasioned by a shortage of trucks saying the current ones keep on breaking down.
He observed that delays in releasing funds also contribute to the problem as the trucks earmarked to collect garbage are not repaired in time.
Mwirigi said putting the towns under a municipality will deal with the challenges as more resources will be deployed.
Residents of Murang’a town have been decrying delay of garbage collection fearing contracting diseases emanating from heaps of waste.
Kenol town which is situated along the busy Nairobi-Nyeri highway lacks a sewerage system as dirty water is drained in open furrows.
The municipality is expected to put up facilities which will help boost sanitation of the town and prevent residents from diseases.
By Bernard Munyao
