Obrein Simasiku

OMUTHIYA - Termites have found refuge in sewerage manholes at a newly developed residential area of Extension 5 in Omuthiya, a situation that will lead to blockage of the drainage system. 
This is due to slow paced construction of houses in the area despite the land having already been serviced years back. The area has been reserved for compensation purposes. 
According to the town’s CEO Samuel Mbango, only a few houses are currently being built. He added that the majority of the compensated people only started signing up for the plots lately, while some have just not developed their land yet. 
The community was not pleased with how the compensation policy was carried out, hence resistance by many to accept the plots, resulting in the land lying idle.
“The line is not in use now, as there are only few houses being built. However as council we have been doing regular checks to clean the manholes as well as put chemicals. This is a challenge we are faced with and even though costly but manageable,” said Mbango.
He however assured the public that termites will not cause any damage to the infrastructure such as the pipes and the concrete drainage. “This is sand which can be washed away, so it won’t cause any major damage to the infrastructure apart from causing congestion and clogging in the system,” he added. 
The CEO also said the council is in the process of gaining control of water pipelines that pass through town and connect nearby villages, including some houses within the townland.
Council is not generating any revenue even from those within the town boundary, although Mbango said council is not losing much as it’s only a few households. “Most of these households are at the end or beyond the borderline of town, so when there is a need we see how we do the connections,” he added. 
“The process has started but is not yet finalised, but  managed to gain control of those that belong to NamWater; we are now working on getting access to pipelines that are still under rural and water supply,” stated the CEO.
Furthermore, he said the institutions collaborate when it comes to the erection of buildings, where they do bypass connections to avoid structures being built on top of the pipelines.