The governor said that although the Green Army had unclogged most of the drains, it was still not enough.
-The Green Troop is a group of young people tasked by the county with the task of keeping the city clean by cleaning and unclogging drains and collecting trash.
-In 2023, City Hall employs 2,500 members of his Green Army. Currently, he has over 100 Green Force personnel in each subdivision.
Nairobi residents expect drainage system improvements every year before the rainy season, yet their hopes continue to be disappointed.
This recurring problem has turned the capital’s roads into obstacle courses, forcing residents to walk, stomp, jump, and even use makeshift trolleys on flooded roads during the rainy season. ing.
When it rains, the deficiencies of the drainage system are exposed, revealing the outdated and dysfunctional state of the drainage system.
However, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has revealed why it is difficult to deal with flooding in the city.
Speaking to the Star, Mr Sakaja said the capacity of the city’s drainage system is fixed.
He explained that although the Green Army has unclogged most of the drains across the city, it is still not enough.
“Although most of the drainage ditches done by the Green Army have already been removed, if we let the excess water flow, it will cause flooding, but it will definitely subside,” said Sakaja.
“But to solve the flooding situation, we need to invest heavily in improving drainage.”
The Green Army is a group of young people from the district tasked with cleaning drainage ditches. They are tasked with keeping the city clean by sweeping, scavenging, and salvaging. garbage.
In 2023, City Hall employed 2,500 Green Force members. Currently, he has over 100 Green Force personnel in each subdivision.
The District Head stressed that there is still a dilemma as to what measures should be taken for Nairobi’s drainage system given its huge needs.
“Would you prioritize expanding this event, which is held once or twice a year and costs billions of dollars, or do you want to distribute drugs to hospitals?” Sakaja asked.
“Is there a permanent solution to a temporary problem?” Do you have the resources? ”
Mr. Sakaja also pointed out that illegal structures were constructed, ultimately blocking drainage and causing flooding.
“We’ve had to deal with a lot of illegal structures that block drainage. Some developers end up clogging drainage beyond what’s approved.” he said.
The county chief has insisted that all illegal structures along the drain be demolished, saying the government cannot risk the lives of thousands of Nairobians at the cost of protecting one person’s business.
To defuse the situation, the governor revealed that he was working with the Kenya National Highways Authority to consider widening the main canal leading to the Gon River.
Part of the discussion included consideration of extreme areas affected by flooding.
However, Governor Sakaja pointed out that there are other projects whose needs must be prioritized if the administration aims for balanced spending priorities apart from normal spending restraints.
“So, cleaning and clearing of blockages continues, but suddenly when it rains heavily, it floods, but it subsides.However, if you want to repair the drain, the actual expansion requires a huge investment. It is necessary,” Sakaja added.
Former Governor Mike Sonko had promised in his election manifesto to provide unemployed youths with stressful jobs to relieve congestion within 100 days.
In the same month, City Hall and the Nairobi Urban Development Directorate announced that they would spend N194 million to deal with the flooding problem.
Of the
funds, his Sh32 million was spent on improving drainage systems in the county and measures to reduce the effects of heavy rains.
City Hall also announced that it will work with the national government to build major sewage facilities and repair drainage systems across the city.
Areas identified for rehabilitation are Catherine Ndereba Street, Ran’ata South Street, Kayole Spine Street, Popo Street, Mai Mahiu Street, Kawangare Culvert along Macharia Street, Kawangare 46-Muslim Primary School Street, Jonathan Geno Street – It was a drainage ditch.
One month later, on April 11, 2018, he spent 25 million lice on the dishwasher to unclog the drain.
This was part of a program funded by the World Bank under the Nairobi Urban Services Improvement Project.
This project started in December 2012 and was scheduled to be completed by the end of May 2019.
The entire project cost approximately Sh500 million and Nairobi received 75 per cent of the total cost.
As a short-term measure, the county has set up an emergency fund that will use most of the 194 million lice to deal with new problems caused by the heavy rains. 4,444 4,444 Sh371 million was earmarked for disaster relief in 2019-2020, but every time it rained, the county was hit by disaster.
According to the county government’s budget execution review report for the first quarter of 2020-21, the county government did not spend any money on development from July to September.
According to the report, not a single shilling was spent on recurrent expenditure of the emergency fund for which Sh100 million was allocated.
City Hall planners say the city’s physical planning dates back to the post-independence era, when designs were based on population and growth was not seriously considered.
Some buildings will need to be demolished to modernize and realign the drainage system, planners say.