Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani has lamented the activities of vandals of public infrastructure and equipment in parts of the coastal county.
There had been reports of vandalism of road railings, manhole covers, electricity poles, and water meters among others in various parts of the county.
Governor Achani called on the residents to support her administration’s efforts to safeguard public infrastructure by being vigilant to the activities of vandals who are bent on sabotaging the huge investments the devolved government was making to procure them.
She urged the residents to always report miscreants who indulge in such nefarious activities to the law enforcement agencies for appropriate action.
Achani made the appeal when she commissioned the Mwashanga water project in Kinango Sub County that will serve over 1300 residents.
The project will significantly reduce the distance covered by the locals in search of water for domestic use.
She expressed displeasure for water infrastructure vandals and warned them that they would not be treated gently when caught.
The coastal county chief said the water from the extension pipeline will be used by the locals for domestic and agricultural purposes.
Achani called on the police to crack the whip on anyone involved in vandalizing of water equipment saying the development has denied innocent people access to public water supply across the county.
The Governor called on residents to be active and guard their own infrastructure within their communities and report criminal acts to the police because the infrastructure belongs to them and once vandalized they would be directly affected.
“Vandalism constitutes a major setback in our efforts to ensure that residents have uninterrupted safe, clean and sustainable water supply,” she said.
She said the county was mulling setting up a surveillance team for the protection of all water sources, boreholes and pipelines and whoever is found vandalizing them will be arrested and prosecuted.
She said her administration was determined to deliver critical water, road, health and education projects.
Recently Kwale Water and Sewerage Company Ltd (KWAWASCO) said water problems experienced in many parts of Kwale were mainly due to vandalism and illegal connections.
KWAWASCO Managing Director (MD) Eric Parmet attributed the water crisis situation to vandalism of critical water infrastructure in the area and road construction activities.
Parmet noted they spend a lot of time and resources in making repairs on leakages and pleaded with the communities to assist in reporting the culprits who vandalize bulk water infrastructure.
He lamented that acts of continuous vandalism often lead to financial loss for the water company and are disruptive to the process of ensuring adequate water supply in the region. “These acts of criminality undermine our efforts to keep the water service delivery wheel in motion in a sustainable manner,” he said.
By Hussein Abdullahi
