Jogoo Road residents were up in arms over the rebuilding of an oil recycling plant in the same area where a fire occurred on Tuesday, January 30.
The enraged crowd lamented the business owner’s actions citing that the chemicals from the plant exacerbated the fire that razed businesses along the area.
According to them, the plant is a hazard to the highly populous informal settlement comprising of jua kali stalls and residences.
The residents added that the dangerous blend of inflammable chemicals and toxic fumes slowed down rescue efforts resulting in huge losses.
It was reported that the fire, which started at around 3:00 pm, unfortunately dragged on for almost 8 hours.
Further, the residents state that the fumes from the fire affected their children’s health, some of whom are tragically still recovering in hospital.
"A lot of property was lost, and our children suffered from the fumes and have not reported to school yet. Some of them are still hospitalised at Mbagathi Hospital and Mama Lucy Kibaki hospitals," stated one of the residents.
They are now pushing for the government to have the plant relocated to an area further away to avert another disaster.
The residents warned the owner, who has ignored their pleas, against progressing with their reconstruction efforts lest they take further action against them.
Fire incidents in the country have been on the rise with more than four incidences reported in the past two weeks.
On Wednesday, February 7, a fire broke out in Embakasi Soweto burning down a string of homes and leaving 63 families homeless.
Another separate incident on Thursday saw businesses counting their losses after a fire broke out in the Bazaar Plaza building in Nairobi.
