With the opening of the Nairobi International Trade Fair by the president on 26 September 2011 it was a delight to the people in Nairobi and Kenya atlarge but in Kibera its comes with its disadvantages the major one being lack water.
This has led to water being shifted to cater for the Trade Fair hence cutting water in various parts of Nairobi.Water is life and lack of it means something very severe in the human life. This has been the problem here in Kenya and Kibera not an exception.
More than half of the 40 million people living in Kenya lack access to any kind of clean water. One of the causes being the severe drought hitting the country at the moment is the major problem which has worsened the issue. With the descrease of water level at the Ndakaini dam which supplies water to Nairobi many places do not have adequate water that they need to run their daily businesses.
Other reasons for lack of clean water is that there are broken water pipes around many places in Kibera hence wasting a lot of water to drain. Leaking pipes cause water contamination when it mixes wit dirt water and sewage. These causes sickness like diahrrea, typhoid and amoeba among the children.
It is not a shock to see residents from different parts of Kibera during this times of the year carring water jerricans of water in their heads and shoulders. They have to walk long distances to get water which makes them tired day by day. These brings to an halt many businesses and tasks.
The government should come up with initiatives which will ensure that there is enough water in the informal settlement no matter what the circumstances. They should ensure that they build tanks of clean water around every area in Kibera to cater for the more than a million people who dwell in the Informal settlements.