Environmentalists and traders in Naivasha have asked the government to urgently address water and sewerage treatment issues around the multi-billion Industrial Park project in Mai-Mahiu area of Naivasha to help avert a health disaster.
The stakeholders claimed that the current status of Naivasha sewerage system was wanting while Mai-Mahiu town which hosts the multi-billion facilities did not have a sewerage system.
A representative of Lake Naivasha Basin Water Resources Users Association (WRUA) David Kihagi said sanitation and waste management was critical at the park which hosts many traders including local and international investors.
Kihagi said the capital project was a major investment for the government and county government with many people including workers, traders and even beneficiaries expected in Naivasha in the coming year as more companies set base in the industrial park.
“The government has embarked on the process of supplying water to the industrial park and the next move should be on how to treat and manage the waste,” he said.
And with the new projects, he said that the number of persons seeking employment would rise and hence the need to address the issues of sanitation and waste disposal.
The chairman Lake Naivasha Basin Landscape Association (LANABLA) Paul Ruoya termed Naivasha as the next center of business in the country adding that the issue of water and sewerage treatment would be critical.
He said the local stakeholders were willing to partner with the national and county governments in ensuring that the multi-billion project was a success to the benefit of Kenyans.
“We are keen to see how the water will be sourced as Naivasha is a water-scarce-region and we are concerned with waste treatment due to Lake Naivasha which supports hundreds of livelihoods,” he said.
Speaking earlier during a visit to Naivasha, Governor Lee Kinyanjui had appealed to the national government to address the issue of sewerage system at the Industrial park.
The governor welcomed the ongoing exercise of supplying water at the Industrial park from several boreholes within Naivasha town adding that the county government was keen to partner with the government in identifying appropriate land where a sewerage treatment plant could be constructed around the industrial park.
By Esther Mwangi
