Angry Suneka residents on Tuesday locked up Suneka Sub-County Ward administrator’s office as they protested plans by Kisii County government to put up a dumping site in the area.
The ward administrator Ms Emily Osinde had allegedly refused to address the protesters who had sought official clarification from her office regarding plans by the county to set up a waste disposal site in the area.
Dozens of residents marched through the streets chanting slogans against the move by the county authority and accusing it of being insensitive to their interests. They accused the county government of taking unilateral decisions without consulting them.
They condemned a notice in local dailies put by the county government announcing the plans to establish the Sh50 million waste management dumping site.
“We here at Bonchari are not ready to carry an extra luggage on our back. Already we are hosting a sewage system here and would not wish to be further burdened,” Mr George Oroko, chairman of the residents said.
They said they had never been consulted on the matter before the matter was decided.
“The constitution advocates public participation on such important issues. Yet nobody has ever come here to seek our views on this matter. Let them know that we would not move an inch in our resolve to see them relocating the dumping site elsewhere,” they said in a statement read to the press.
They accused the county government of fraudulently dumping unviable projects in the Suneka area.
“We want to see a banana factory built here not a dumping site which in due time will be a health hazard to us and our children,” they demanded.
Mr Oroko said the dumping site would pose health risks to River Riana, a major water source for the residents.
He blamed administrators from the area, including the Ward Representative, for siding with the county government to establish the dumping site in the area.
“They have been bought and that is why you are not seeing even the Ward Administrator here to tell us the county government’s position on the issue,” Oroko said.
A single Administration police officer manning the office was helpless as the protesters carrying twigs angrily locked up workers, including the ward administrator in the office.
They were angered after she told them on phone that she would not be available to talk to them in the course of the day.
Her refusal angered them before they filed out of the hall where they were meeting to barricade the entrance to her office with debris, broken chairs and empty water tanks.
Chair of the area business community, Mr Atandi Machuka called on the Governor to shelve plans to establish the dumping site saying it would pose long term health challenges to the residents.