Ministers hold their noses, shut eyes as the filth flows

George Aoko says he is yet to recover from the trauma he experienced during a recent swimming event in Mombasa. There he is about to swim near Fort Jesus when he notices raw sewage flowing directly into the ocean.

Why, he wonders, has the National Environment Management Authority allowed this?

And as a special report in last weekend’s editions of The Standard pointed out, the situation is no different in Naivasha where discharge of untreated waste is part of the stinking script that threatens Lake Naivasha.

PointBlank has in the past noted that such blatant pollution is a shortcut favoured by companies supposed to provide water and sewerage services.

In fact, a Press notice in January by the Water Resources Management Authority reminded the companies of the requirement to have functional sewerage or waste treatment systems. But the negligence continues.

Perhaps Water Minister Charity Ngilu and her Environment counterpart John Michuki should do more than simply hold their noses and close their eyes as the sewage flows.