Several shops in Engineer and Ol Kalou towns in Nyandarua have been closed as the National Environmental Management Authority cracked down on traders using plastic bags.
The hardest hit was Njambini Fair Price wholesalers, caught with about 7,550 plastic bags in Engineer Town.
“We received a tip-off from the public that the outlet used black plastic carrier bags that were banned two years ago,” noted chief enforcement officer Robert Orina, who led the crackdown.
Boarder Supermarkets among other outlets were also closed after being found with dozens of clear bags being used to package powder soap for their customers.
“We are shocked as we had declared a 100 per cent success in eliminating these black bags but unfortunately the traders had hidden them for later use,” regretted Orina, saying four persons will be charged.
He urged residents to liaise with the nearest Nema offices and surrender their consignments as merely possessing them was illegal.
The authority also gave a 14-day notice of closure to the Ol Kalou slaughterhouse, run by the county government, because operators released blood and other waste to a nearby river.
“The county government has to construct a treatment system for the slaughterhouse waste and desist from draining blood and other wastes into the river,” said Nema south rift regional director Marian Kioko while issuing the notice of closure.
County director for Nema Ezra Ng’ang’a said the high water table in Ol Kalou town and its environs made it difficult for residents to rely on the traditional pit latrines.
“We do not have a clear effluent disposal system in Ol Kalou but that does not mean we don’t have alternatives disposal mechanisms,” he said.
“We urge real estate owners and traders to construct septic tanks and use Nema licensed exhausters to evacuate their wastes that will eventually be disposed of appropriately,” urged Ng’ang'a.
He also issued a notice of closure to Mombasa Estate owner Joseph Kihuho and several other homeowners, for releasing their effluents to stormwater drains and road reserves.
Ng’ang’a noted that plans were underway to a connect Kariambu, Kapteni and Ol Kalau towns to a sewer system that will be constructed soon.
