Residents of Mavoko Sub-County have urged the county government of Machakos to open up drainage systems to avoid losses caused by floods from storm waters.
The locals said they were losing lots of property during the ongoing rains in the region due to lack of proper drainage systems especially within the slums.
"Most of us were victims of the late last year's heavy rains having lost property of unknown value to the floods, we fear experiencing the same this time round," said Nancy Njoki.
Njoki who lives in Kanaani slum within the outskirts of Athi River town said their residences were flooded already due to poor drainage systems.
She said she was worried their houses will be swept away if the rains which they did not expect to fall early in the year persists to rain.
Josphat Kiarie who separately spoke to this writer in Athi River town on Thursday said several roads in the region had been cut off by the floods already.
Kiarie blamed the situation on improper construction of drainage systems by constructors along the roads citing the road linking Athi River and Joska towns through Kinanie as an example of impassible ones.
He said there was dire need for relevant authorities to speedily look into the drainages whether in residences or along major roads to avert the situation.
John Onyango, resident of Njoguini slum on his part said the county government should engage idle youth in the slums to maintain drainage systems.
Onyango said if the youth were involved in executing the project, the government would spend less to solve the problem as the idle and poor youth earn a living out of it however for a short period of time it takes.
The residents expressed their worries that the situation would worsen if the government fails to intervene in time as the rains continue falling.