Nakuru County government will construct over fifteen modern toilets along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway to address the perennial problem of open defecation along the busy roads.
Also to benefit are major roads and trading centers with the department of public health targeting passengers and long distance drivers who have been relieving themselves in the bushes.
This came as it emerged that the county was using close to Sh1B annually to treat diseases caused by poor sanitation.
According to the county director of Public Health Samuel King’ori, they were committed to eradicating the problem of open defecation along the major roads in the region.
King’ori identified areas set to benefit from the toilets as Kinungi, Kikopey, Salgaa, Kivunja, Total Junction, Nakuru North, Longonot, Subukia, Keringet among others.
“Previously the county had major challenges in cholera but we have managed to contain this and the county has set aside Sh15m for the toilets project along the major roads,” he said.
King’ori added that of the 2,050 villages targeted in the country only 390 had been declared as Open Defecation Free (ODF) and hence the need for more concerted efforts.
The senior county officer was speaking during the opening of the new fecal sludge treatment facility in Naivasha constructed by Sanivation Company.
According to the company Director Dickson Ochieng the plant would use human waste and saw-dust to create briquettes which would be used as an alternative to charcoal and firewood.
He said that the company which started business in the country in 2014 had to date sold 300 tons of briquettes adding that as a result tens of trees had been saved from illegal logging.
He said that plans were underway to open another similar plant in Nakuru adding that the company wanted to expand its services to two other counties by next year.
“The Superlogs are non-carbonized briquettes which are created by processed waste materials and they will act as an alternative of charcoal and firewood,” he said.
The Chief Officer in charge of Health in Nakuru County Dr Samuel Mwaura termed the new innovation as the way to go mainly in addressing the issue of sanitation in the county.
“This plant will relieve the pressure on the Naivasha sewerage plant which has been known to spill waste into the nearby Lake Naivasha,” he said.
Others who spoke were the CEC for Water and Environment in the County Festus Ng’eno who said that the county was proud to host two such facilities.
“We welcome more investors who are keen to turn human waste into eco-friendly briquettes as this will help address the issue of sanitation across the county,” he said.