Environment CS Aden Duale has vowed to deal firmly with any industry or individuals polluting the Nairobi River.
“The county government of Nairobi, industries and individuals must take responsibility,” he said.
His ministry will not allow further pollution of the Nairobi River basin and the once Green City Under the Sun must regain its lost glory.
The fact that Nairobi hosts the United Nations Environment Programme headquarters is enough reason to deal decisively with polluters.
“I will sit with the National Environment Management Authority before the end of this week and come up with two different colour-coded bins for waste management. All public service vehicles must have waste bins,” Duale said, adding that he will pick up from where the late former Environment minister John Michuki left.
“I’m ready to take the lead,” he said. The CS spoke on Tuesday during the launch of the 2023 KCB Group Sustainability Report.
He was accompanied by Environment and Climate Change PS Festus Ng'eno at the KenCom House event.
Duale said one colour-coded bin will be for organic waste while the other one would be for other waste.
The country has laws to protect the environment but they are never implemented.
He said some of the laws came into being when he served as the Majority Leader of the National Assembly.
Those still polluting the Nairobi River will be hunted down. Duale decried that the river was heavily polluted, saying Nema must curb all forms of pollution.
Nema has been citing dysfunctional sewer systems and illegal dumpsites as some of the main challenges within the Nairobi River basin.
Director General Mamo Mamo recently told the Star that the authority has identified four points of discharge that were to be fixed in the next 24 hours including City Park, Kenyatta National Hospital, Kirichwa Kubwa and Mathare River.
The Nairobi Water Company was to do the work. “If they are not going to fix them, then we will take appropriate enforcement actions like arresting and arraigning them in a court of law.”
Mamo promised to audit all the broken sewers for action, adding that a restoration order had been given to map out all discharge points.
The Nairobi River Commission is working with government other government agencies and the county governments of Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Machakos and Makueni to clean up the heavily polluted river.
The commission's mandate has 10 thematic areas, namely: catchment reclamation and protection, riparian reclamation and beautification, reduction of waste (solid, industrial, institutional waste and sewerage); people and social (community engagement) as well as drainage and hydrology.
NRC is also working with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Athi Water Works Development Agency and the Nairobi City county government towards the expansion of the sewer network to reduce sewage disposal into the rivers.
It has engaged NGOs and other stakeholders who have been working along the rivers.
The commission needs approximately Sh22 billion to address solid waste, sewerage and industrial waste challenges.
This is in addition to developing the necessary infrastructure and addressing catchment protection and riparian mapping.
More than Sh900 million is needed to tackle solid waste in Nairobi; Kiambu (Sh486 million), Kajiado (Sh516 million), Machakos (Sh647 million), and Makueni (Sh433 million).
To address sewerage in Nairobi, Sh964 million is needed. For Kiambu it is Sh2 billion, Kajiado Sh725 million, Machakos Sh304 million, and Makueni Sh450 million.
The action plan also shows that geo-spatial-riparian mapping needs Sh62 million, drainage and hydrology Sh3 billion, catchment protection and restoration Sh9 billion and industrial and institutional waste management needs Sh11 million.
Other resources needed include commutation and community engagement (Sh30 million), employment of at least 1,000 youth (Sh45 million), a multi-agency operations centre (Sh20 million), and multi-agency or stakeholder situational analysis (Sh30 million).