County, firm unveil waterless toilets

Water CEC Emmily Achieng (cenre), MOWASSCO Managing Director Mr Farah Abdirahim and Fresh Life Managing Director Anthony Mulinge. [Courtesy]n

Mombasa County Government has rolled out an innovative, cost-effective, and sustainable sanitation solution to serve its swelling population.

The county is implementing the sanitation project, Fresh Life Toilets, in partnership with Mombasa Water Supply and Sanitation Company (MOWASSCO) and Fresh Life.

MOWASSCO and Fresh Life Toilets Saturday signed an MoU to roll out the project in slum areas.

Speaking after the signing of the MoU at MaryCliff Primary at Tudor, the county officials said the project would improve the quality of life for over 600,000 residents living in pro-poor areas of Mombasa County through access to nonsewered sanitation.

The Water CEC, Ms Emmily Achieng, said this was part of Governor Abdulswamad Nassir's agenda to enhance access to safe water and sanitation.

"This partnership is holistic and comes with multiple benefits for Mombasa. Fresh Life Toilets are waterless, and in an increasingly water-scarce environment, we are pleased to be providing a solution that will save on water," she said.

MOWASSCO Managing Director Mr Farah Abdirahim said the toilets would make it easy to treat or dispose of waste and reduce the carbon footprint in the port city.

"The waste management services will also play a key role in improving public health and environmental conservation by ensuring that sanitation waste that would otherwise end up in the environment or ocean is safely treated or disposed of, while reducing the carbon footprint," said Abdirahim.

He applauded all the teams for the immense work to kickstart the partnership.

"Our mandate is to offer clean and reliable water and sanitation, and we cannot achieve this through a single solution. We have a multi-pronged approach to ensure that we reach everyone in Mombasa. Additionally, we will create direct and indirect job opportunities through this partnership while reducing WASH-related diarrhoeal diseases," he said.

Mr Anthony Mulinge, Fresh Life's Managing Director, said the organisation was keen on building Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to complement government efforts in enhancing access to safe sanitation.