Residents of Kebirigo sub location in Nyamira County have decried the adverse effects of runoff water from the adjacent Kebirigo tea factory.
Alice Moraa, a resident complained that since the enhanced rainfall commenced, run off water from the tea factory has caused a lot of menace in her home, and she is unable to prepare meals for her family because the water flows directly to her cooking place in the kitchen.
“I’m suspecting the tea factory managers have dug outlets through the brick fence and you can only see the effects when it rains. The huge amount of runoff water has made our life unbearable, we fear that soon our mud-walled houses will collapse and some household items will be carried away by runoff water because they have absorbed a lot of water from the ground. Cooking is now impossible because the surface is water logged because of that water.” She complained.
Mr Abel Momanyi said that the runoff water from the factory has settled on his flat compound displacing his cattle which are unable to graze during the day and sleep at night.
“This run off water has endangered my investments in poultry and dairy farming. I rear free range indigenous chicken which are used to walking freely and relaxing in the compound but now I have to lock them in their house for fear of getting disease from this water. The worst scenario for me is contamination of water in my well for domestic use. As much as my well is lockable, the runoff water is infiltrating through the ventilations and my family is unable to use this water,” Momanyi explained.
He is worried that after the enhanced rains subside, his family will not be able to use the water from his well because he is not able to estimate the extent of contamination from runoff water.
The chairman of Kebirigo tea factory, Nelson Nduko told KNA that the factory management has held an urgent crisis management meeting and they have resolved to undertake immediate temporal measures which will control run off water from the factory getting out of its compound and have started a long term plan to solve the crisis once and for all which will be implemented within this month.
“As factory management we have resolved to dig trenches within the factory compound to stop runoff water getting into people’s compounds downstream especially those staying at the lower places as we discuss, plan and execute a long term strategy on how runoff water from the factory will be contained once and for all,” the chairman said.
Predicted enhanced rainfall has caused a lot of havoc, destroyed property in most parts of the country and even cost people’s lives. This prolonged scenario has affected the climate stability whose effects are a struggle to tackle globally.
By Deborah Bochere
