A water table near the ground surface has made it difficult for Wajir residents to dig pit latrines, forcing the majority to use buckets for toilets.
Residents dig shallow pits in which they place the buckets to be collected and disposed of when full.
According to the World Health Organization, latrine coverage in rural Wajir is about five per cent.
A first time visitor to Wajir will be welcomed by a peculiar stench emanating from human waste in bucket toilets but residents have learned to live with it.
When it rains, the town smells and water also gets contaminated. As a result, the county has on several occasions experienced a cholera outbreak.
Abdi Yusuf, a resident said that it was high time the county worked on a modern way of solid waste management.
“We have been using plastic buckets since Wajir town come into existence. Surely in this day and age, we shouldn’t be using such unhygienic things,” Yusuf said.
The county administration, however, says the bucket system will continue being in place until a proper water and sewerage system is installed.
The county boss said the county was working with partners for a long term solution to the problem.
The World Bank conducted a feasibility study five years ago on how to build a good sewerage system that will not have any effect on the residents' lives.
“The implementation for a sewerage system for the residents of Wajir is already in the last stage,” Abdi said.
He said the county was partnering with the World Bank who are funding the project.
“We have already started digging seven boreholes within four miles radius of Wajir town so that residents can get clean water,” he said.
