Nairobi city county Governor Johnson Sakaja has ordered the unclogging of all drainage before the impending destructive rainfall due in October all the way to January.
Speaking while launching Nairobi’s El Nino marshal plan at Uhuru Park, Mr Sakaja announced that his county had recruited 3,500 environment officers who will be deployed in the city’s 17 sub-counties for the task and other environmental maintenance.
“We want them to begin work immediately so that we are ready for the El Nino season when it sets in
“This is the largest single recruitment of environmental staff in the county since the 1980’s. It reflects the urgency of the task, and the backlog that must be cleared in time for the rains,”.
On August 30, the Director of Kenya Meteorological Department, Dr David Gikungu warned Kenyans of impending destructive heavy rains due in October all the way to January.
Dr Gikungu forecast the rains will be accompanied with floods, landslides and disease outbreaks as a result of the conditions known as El Nino.
At the same time, due to the heavy rainfall there is a possibility of population displacements, backflows and overflows in water bodies as well as incidences of drowning and damage to infrastructure.
Dr Gikungu identified Nairobi, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Kiambu, Laikipia East, Meru, Embu, Tharaka Nithi counties as likely to experience rainfall throughout the season.
“Flashfoods will be prevalent in North Eastern Kenya where they are many seasonal rivers as well as in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Naivasha,”.
Earlier, Mr Sakaja recalled how on May 12th 2015 in South C pupils in a Makini School bus on their way home half sunk near the South C Mosque.
“Although the children were later rescued, early the following morning; as you can imagine, they were cold, hungry, and scared,”.
He added: “The images from that incident was highlighted on mainstream and social media…
“It is a stark reminder of the danger of flooding, and of the importance of getting our infrastructure, our drainage, and our disaster management right, not just for the coming El Niño season, but through the rest of the year,”.
The Governor attributed the drainage problems facing Nairobi to construction of buildings even in places which are flood prone as well as a lot of inadequate and ill maintained drainage.
“The construction of drainage has not come close to meeting the growing needs of Nairobians; and even when we have built it, we must admit that we have failed to maintain it to the standards required,”.
”At the same time, there is clear encroachment on river reserves and wetlands which are essential for natural drainage and water control…
“Building on them doesn’t just threaten those who have property there; it means the rest of us must face the real risk associated with flooding every time it rains,”.
Mr Sakaja urged his officers to ensure they demolished all illegal structures constructed on drainage systems and urged Nairobians to cooperate with the County teams.
“My officers will also carry out a thorough review of our planning and enforcement and identify buildings which present a flooding threat as the days when foundations for new buildings were laid in riverbeds are over…
“If need be, we are also planning to evacuate people living in informal settlements who are likely to be faced with flooding to social halls and churches in order to protect lives,”.
At the same time, Mr Sakaja added, the County plans to conduct a review of the Disaster Management Act of 2016 to align it with the emerging situations.
Lands ministry Cabinet Secretary Zachary Njeru lauded the city county for developing an elaborate and phased-out plan to manage physical infrastructure in the face of the impending heavy rainfall.
“The employment of youth, dubbed the Green Army, to unclog drainage and other related physical infrastructure is a step in the right direction,” Mr Njeru noted.
