The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) on Friday, January 8, outlined a new technology it will roll out to lockout notorious water cartels in Nairobi.
The organisation noted that water shortage in the city affected many informal settlements with the cartels taking advantage to overcharge residents.
To counter their influence, NMS has digitised water vending in the areas to ensure accountability and lockout the water cartels.
"We are also extending piping and repair across the county to improve the water supply experience," the agency stated.
This is part of the short term and long term measures to ensure reliable and consistent water supply.
"To serve informal sectors that often suffer disrupted water supply, Nairobi Metropolitan Services, NMS procured a fleet of 24 Water Bowsers that have been supplying water in these areas across the county's 17 sub-counties,"
Further, a total of 193 boreholes have since been sunk, and above-ground storage tanks and water kiosks established which are all managed by area residents.
A trader in Nairobi CBD, John Kimani in December 2020, lamented over water rationing that affected their operations.
"We have been without water for more than two weeks in Luthuli avenue and Gaberone road in CBD. Water vendors have been having a field day," he stated.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, in January 2021, he observed that the issue had been sorted and hoped for a long term solution to the problem which had left them at the mercy of water cartels for years.
According to the NMS Director-General Mohammed Badi, Nairobi loses Ksh3.7 billion annually to illegal water connections and leakages.
In September 2020, Badi noted that illegal connections and vandalism of water and sewage systems were rampant in most informal settlements.
"Illegal connections and vandalism of water and sewer infrastructure are a criminal offense and can attract a fine of Sh100,000 or a jail term of two years or both, according to the Water Act, 2016,” he stated.
