• The governor said the county hopes for the best but must prepare for the worst
• It does not want to move people too early for lack of alternative accommodation
Image: NCCG
Nairobi county might be compelled to evacuate residents from areas likely to be hit by floods due to the anticipated El Nino, Governor Johnson Sakaja has said.
Unveiling a marshal plan yesterday, he said some people will have to move to avoid loss of lives.
“In some areas, we will have to evacuate some of the people. Some people will have to move from the areas they are living, especially in the informal settlements,” Sakaja told the press as he unveiled a multibillion-shilling marshal plan.
The governor said they hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
Sakaja said the county does not, however, want to move the vulnerable people too early in anticipation of the rains as the county does not have alternative accommodation.
“But as we monitor when it gets close to that very heavy rainfall, we will move them either to churches, our social halls and we will have to feed them, provide for them food, mattresses, blankets,” he said.
Nairobi is faced with a rapid population growth, rapid and unplanned urbanisation, climate change, environmental degradation and widespread poverty, hence a growing number of people and assets are exposed to disasters.
Sakaja said they are, however, holding onto hope that it does not get to that.
The governor has also instructed ward administrations, subcounty admin and inspectorate teams not to negotiate with those who have erected buildings on drainage facilities as well as riparian areas.
Sakaja urged them to issue enforcement notices immediately and remove such structures.
“We will not allow selfishness of a few people to cause damage of lives and livelihoods of millions of Nairobians,” he warned.
“Remove those structures before we come to pull them down.”
Sakaja said he won’t tolerate impunity going forward.
He said the mobility team, together with the works team, has mapped out areas that are hotspots for floods.
He said the areas, mainly in informal settlements, are many.
The governor also warned those littering, saying the law will catch up with them, warning that penalties have been enhanced.
The county has already hired 2,500 environment officers to help spruce up Nairobi, with Sakaja saying another 1,000 are set to be hired.
More than 60,000 Kenyans had applied for the few slots.
On the unsafe buildings, Sakaja said the report done by the Ministry of Lands and Housing showed 600 buildings.
He said some buildings can be brought back to structural integrity, but tenants will have to be moved out of those that are completely irreparable.
“Some of them are in Huruma, Mathare and Embakasi. We will have to move people out,” he said.
The governor said professionals in the build sector should be charged with murder every time buildings they supervised collapse.
Sakaja said notices will be given as their lives are worth more than those buildings.
He said the list of unsafe buildings will be published soon.
Sakaja said they have bought 27 tippers, while 24 compacters have been fabricated.
He, however, failed to pinpoint how much has been set aside specifically to confront El Nino, simply saying that it is multisectoral.
Sakaja said those who used to do environmental work were last hired in the 1980s.
He announced that the county is hiring 3,500 environmental staff.
Already, 2,500 have been hired, while another 1,000 are set to be hired soon.
The governor said some of the workers have died, some retired while many are above 55 years.
“They are old and they do not have the energy. We needed to employ environmental officers who are now younger, between 18 and 28, who can come in and do that work,” he said.
Sakaja said those employed will start with contracts, but the county will consider hiring them on permanent basis, depending on their performance.
SPARKLING CLEAN
He assured Nairobi residents that the city will be sparkling clean in the next three months and will not be the same again.
Sakaja said part of the multisectoral team that will deal with El Nino has 7,460 community health volunteers going round, educating the public on what needs to be done.
He said each of the volunteers is in charge of 100 households, and they are crucial in raising awareness.
Sakaja said medical facilities have been equipped to deal with any eventualities.
The governor said the emergency number is 1508 and will soon be shared with the public.
Sakaja said his teams have been provided with the necessary support to deal with El Nino.
He said there will be a call centre to answer all any queries.
Sakaja said the county seeks to increase revenue to Sh20 billion this year to help enhance service delivery.
Lands CS Zacharia Njeru praised the city county for developing an elaborate and phased-out plan to manage physical infrastructure in the face of the anticipated heavy rainy season.
"The engagement of youth, dubbed the Green Army, to conduct drainage unclogging and other related physicial infrastructure maintenance, is an ingenious measure," he said.
"It will not only create avenues for employment but also contribute to the management of valuable, functional and expensive urban infrastructure."
Njeru highlighted the importance of a Metropolitan Regional response to the issue of flood management, saying a stormwater drainage master plan should be developed for the Nairobi Metropolitan Region.
He said some flash floods from Kajiado county, especially Ngong Hills, flow as far as Machakos and Nairobi City counties.
Njeru said his ministry has developed 13.6km of storm water drainage in South C, Lang’ata, Mavoko, Ong’ata Rongai and Dagoretti in 2018.
Additionally, he said, his ministry procured two stormwater flushing units in 2017, which were handed over to the Nairobi City county government.