Improve waste disposal in smaller urban areas

Just last year, as revelations of raw sewage being rele-ased into the Indian Ocean outraged the nation, this newsp-aper highlighted the sorry state of waste disposal nationally. From the indignities of bucket systems in places like Wajir to inadequate and malfunctioning sewerage in every city and town, the country’s story of human waste disposal is incredible. Much may be made of the ‘flying toilets’ in the slum areas, but this is symptomatic of an inadequate system everywhere.

The broken system means the storm drains that run alongside are often filled with waste water, raising the danger of disease outbreaks in rainy seasons. The low coverage forces a reliance on the ‘honeysucker’ industry, where an eye to keeping costs low usually means disposal into rivers. As the urban population is expected to grow significantly in the next few decades, moving from this path-etic state to having decent infrastructure is critical.