A health hazard is looming at Kenol town, Murang’a South Sub County following huge heap of garbage that has piled up for the last three years.
A 50 by 100 ft plot that had once been readied by its owner for development has slowly turned into a nightmare for several hotel owners, who have constructed their shanty eating joints a few metres away.
During rainy season in the area, the main garbage dumping site at Kenol town stinks, as flies and rodents infest hotels, whose owners have very little they can do to keep them away.
Those who spoke to KNA want the county government to relocate the site to less populated areas.
They claimed the county government takes months before collecting the garbage from the site.
Jane Wambui, one of the hotel owners claimed that most of her customers have shied away from her premises for fear of contracting germ related diseases.
Her hotel is less than eight metres from the site and some of her customers prefer enjoying their delicacies in the open to take a breath of fresh air that has slowly been polluted.
“Things have been difficult since the rains began. The smell from the site is unbearable for both my staff and customers. My sales have dropped and if this continues, I might be forced to relocate,” she said.
Yet another hotel owner Alice Muthoni, with a hotel less than five metres from the site also complained that her customers have since fled.
Meanwhile, about 15 hotels and 10 bars are found within the vicinity of the garbage site, and now residents fear for a possible outbreak of diseases if the waste site is not relocated.
The same applies to David Kamau who scavenges for plastics bottles and bags from the site for sale. He has depended on the site ever since. He is also concerned with the risk the site has been posing to them.
“Once dogs are knocked down along the Thika-Nyeri highway within the town, they are dumped here. Broken bottles and household refuse too. Likewise, the proximity of the site to the highway creates a bad name to the town,” he said.
By Muoki Charles
Garbage dump site pose risk to residents
