Govt To Automate Water Supply in Slums

Undated file image of woman washing hands from a water tap.
Undated file image of woman washing hands from a water tap.
Kenyans.co.ke

The Government has announced a plan to install automated water supply machines in Nairobi's informal settlements.

Government spokesman, Col. Cyrus Oguna, made the announcement while on a tour of the Mukuru Kwa Reuben slum on Thursday, August 12.

According to Oguna, residents of these informal settlements will access up to 20 litres of water at a relatively subsidized price of 50 cents.

Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna addresses a press conference at his office in Nairobi on January 4, 2020
Government Spokesperson Cyrus Oguna addresses the media at his office in Nairobi on January 4, 2020
Daily Nation

Residents will be issued with rubber tokens which can be loaded with 50 cents. This will then prompt the automated machines to release clean water.

Oguna noted that this was part of efforts by the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation to ensure increased availability of clean water within the informal settlements of Nairobi.

Before intervention by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), residents of Mukuru Kwa Reuben paid as much as Ksh50 to get an illegal connection of piped water, which in most cases, was highly contaminated.

Alternatively, residents were forced to part with Ksh10 for a 20-litre jerrycan of water.

This project is set to be put in motion with the collaboration of the Mukuru Special Planning Area (SPA) and the NMS. The new infrastructure will be laid across three wards within the larger Mukuru namely Mukuru Kwa Reuben, Mukuru Kwa Njenga and Viwandani. 

In April 2020, the government embarked on the first phase of providing clean water to Nairobi’s informal settlements. It majorly involved drilling and equipping 20 new boreholes.

Nairobi Metropolitan Director-General Mohammed Badi
Nairobi Metropolitan Director-General Mohammed Badi
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