Kitengela residents opted to go this route for what they term as unfulfilled promises from both the county and national governments as relates the sewer network. The Business Daily Africa report claims that lack of a proper sewer line has left area residents exposed to infectious diseases.
“Raw sewage flows freely from most residential and business premises in this town exposing us to outbreak of waterborne diseases. We decided not to wait any more for government but to do it for ourselves,” said Beatrice Wambui, a local resident told the Nation Media Group affiliated business newspaper.
The residents involved in the project are said to comprise at least 279 landlords with property in the Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZ) area. Contributions for the sewer line began in 2015 in a journey that has also seen the self-help residents conduct a Ksh3 million study into the feasibility of constructing the sewer line.
A three-phase construction model is in place for the development of the sewer line.
The self-built sewer line will reportedly benefit at least 300 rental flats and 100 homes with a population of more than 20,000. It is set to be operational in six months.
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None of satellite towns in Kajiado County has a sewer line with the Kitengela Township currently relying on septic tanks for waste management. This however means that extra expenses have to be incurred to cater for transportation of waste disposal to either Nairobi or Machakos.
Costs of waste disposal average around Ksh100,000 a week, one resident told the MediaMax owned K24.
Public health officials have expressed fear that the septic tank overflows may have contaminated some borehole water connections in the area, according to K24.
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