The Kenya Pipeline Company in conjunction with several public and private sector players has released 130,000 litres of free hand sanitisers to members of the public.
This will go a long way in countering the spread of coronavirus disease in the country.
The free hand sanitisers initiative is part of the government's effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 which has seen 38 cases reported in the country.
Managing Director Macharia Irungu, said the free hand sanitisers are a classic example of what a joint public and private sector efforts can do.
"In less than two weeks, KPC, oil marketing companies and other players have produced over 130,000 litres of free hand sanitisers to benefit Kenya’s most vulnerable people. This will go a long way in mitigating the spread of Covid-19 in the country,” Irungu said.
He said distribution model has prioritised those counties that have confirmed Covid-19 cases followed by those that are potential hot spots.
“We expect to receive over 600,000 litres of ethanol, a critical ingredient in blending of hand sanitisers, which is in KRA’s custody. Other private sector players have also promised us more ethanol to continue producing the hand sanitisers. This means that we need more support as we fight to make Kenya coronavirus free,” he said.
The sanitisers are packed in 500 milliliter bottles for household use and 20-litre containers for institutions such as health centres, police stations, market centres, and other places where Kenyans frequent for essential services.
The distribution exercise will be overseen by respective county commissioners in all the 47 counties.
So far, over 93,000 litres of the free sanitisers have been released to several counties including Nairobi, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale and Nakuru.
Others are Siaya, Kajiado, Kiambu, Muranga, Makueni and Machakos.
On Friday, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) nabbed several litres of sub-standard sanitisers produced by the Laser Chemicals.
According to Kebs, Laser Chemicals who did not posses permit to produce sanitisers were using high levels of ethanol that are not and do not meet the required measurements/ composition as required by the standards body.
KEBS had previously seized and published 12 sanitisers that were sub-standard.