Nema has ordered Bungoma Prisons management to drain the pool of sewage on the Bungoma railway reserve and on Bungoma High School land.
County Nema director Vincent Mahiva told the Star that sewer water that has been there since 2019 has affected residents.
“This problem has been experienced for a very long time, my desk received many complaints of the raw sewage,” he said after inspecting the area.
Mahiva said in partnership with other environmental authorities, the process of draining the raw sewage has started and the exercise will be completed in a couple of weeks.
He said schoolchildren who use the route are at risk of falling into the sewage.
“We have pupils from Central Muslim Primary School, Sio Primary School, Bungoma DEB and Sinoko primary school who use the route daily to their schools. Let those exhausting the sewer increase speed so that the place can be clean,” he said.
Mahiva asked Nzoia Water Services Company to repair the collapsed sewer lines within the prison premises to ensure there is no flow of raw sewage to the railway reserve and Bungoma High School land.
“Despite the prisons department coming up with a temporary solution of removing raw sewerage, Nzowasco should also repair the collapsed sewer lines so that we don’t have such a problem in the future,” Mahiva said.
Resident Mercy Simiyu told the Star that the raw sewerage has become a mosquito breeding site.
She said it also emits a bad smell that causes discomfort among residents.
Simiyu praised Nema for taking the initiative to remove the sewage.
Mahiva said after the sewage is removed, public health officers will visit the site to disinfect it.
He warned that those operating businesses in Bungoma county without following Nema directives will face the law if found.
Edited by A.N
