Nairobi’s El Niño mitigation plan has saved county, national gov’ts Ksh2B’ – Sakaja
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja estimates that the El Niño Preparedness and Response Marshall Plan launched in October has saved both the county and national governments at least Ksh2 billion.
Sakaja says that the mitigation efforts undertaken by the county government through the plan have come in handy in minimizing the effects of the rains in the city.
“The County has also undertaken community sensitization, sanitation, and public health improvement works in the informal settlement areas to guard against disease outbreaks. Looking back, we estimate that our El Niño Rapid Response Marshall Plan has potentially saved the County Government and the National Government more than Ksh2 billion," Sakaja stated.
"These funds would have been spent for emergency works and relief interventions had the El Niño Rapid Response Marshall Plan not been activated. By activating the Green Army, all the 80 potential hotspots had been appropriately treated to prevent flooding, displacement, and economic disruption.”
Through the plan, the county government deployed more than 2,500 personnel known as the Green Army, providing environmental management services across the County, including storm drain clearing, garbage collection and related community services.
The county, before the rains, had mapped out more than 80 potential hotspots in 17 sub-counties that had received specific attention to upscale mitigation challenges associated with flash floods.
Sakaja reveals work done
Sakaja says so far, 6,000 tonnes of garbage have been moved by the Green Army over the last three weeks.
“In some areas, we unclogged water pathways and storm drainage systems that were full of garbage possibly accumulated over more than two decades,” Sakaja noted.
“In a city of order, dignity, hope and opportunity like Nairobi, our people's safety and well-being is paramount. We will spare no effort or resource to ensure that city residents’ livelihoods and economic infrastructure are not disrupted nor destroyed even as the rains pound. Failing to plan is planning to fail, and the Nairobi City County Government El Niño Rapid Response Marshall plan aims to mitigate any negative challenges.”
While launching the plan in September, Sakaja revealed that his government had set aside Ksh300 million to mitigate the effects of the expected elevated short rains.
Bram Simiyu, Chair of the NCCG Multisectoral Rapid Response team, says the county government has not been caught flatfooted
"We had placed all our staff in the 17 sub-counties on high alert and assigned resources, including road construction equipment, ambulances, fire fighting, sewerage vehicles and equipment, among others, to provide the necessary mitigation support,” Simiyu said
Simiyu says the county government has also undertaken more than 302 intervention works, including outfall drain cleaning and lining, unclogging of blocked drains, de-siltation and repair of drains, and improving drainage channels' capacity to suitable discharge points.
