A Murang’a water firm is currently undertaking a programme aimed to ensure poor families get connected to clean and reliable water.
Murang’a Water And Sanitation Company (MUWASCO) is aiming by the end of this year, 2, 500 needy families get supply to clean water.
Currently, more than 1, 700 families drawn from the company’s area of jurisdiction, have already been connected with clean water.
The firm’s Public Relations Officer Mr Jacob Mbuthia has said the company has already covered 96 per cent in terms of water connections.
The remaining 4 per cent, Mbuthia noted, is made up of families which cannot afford connection fees, saying some of the families are of the aged persons, orphans and persons living with disabilities.
Speaking during inspection of the new connections at Kiawanjugu and Njoguini villages, Mbuthia explained that the company came up with a policy dubbed ‘Pro-poor’ which aims to freely connect the needy households with clean water for domestic use.
“This programme started two years ago and aims to ensure the poor families from our area of jurisdiction also get water. One connection cost at around Sh. 8, 000 and we have waived the amount to ensure all families in our area can access clean, safe and reliable water,” added the officer.
The programme, Mbuthia added that it’s aimed to enhance universal access and the national last mile connectivity to water and sanitation services.
“This initiative is being implemented in line with the company’s policy that targets the poor within the community. The beneficiaries are selected through a rigorous criteria which involves various stakeholders,” explained Mbuthia.
Among the beneficiaries, the officer added, are the residents who have old water bills which they could not settle.
“Some families have been unable to pay old water bills. We are considering them in this programme and we hope after they get connected they will be able to foot current bills,” he added.
Mbuthia said the needy families are mostly drawn from informal settlements within Murang’a town including Mjini and others are from villages which are far from the town.
By Bernard Munyao
