A fire engine machine belonging to the Machakos government is grounded due to mechanical problems.
The Mavoko sub-county fire brigade supervisor, Dancun Kamatu, said the engine had remained stationery at the sub-county headquarters in Athi River town for the last four weeks.
“The Mavoko sub-county fire brigade personnel have remained idle for the last four weeks following the grounding of the engine," said Kamatu.
The situation has left several residents of the sub-county worried arguing the engine had been of great importance to the entire sub county and parts of Kajiado County in extension.
The residents led by Jeremiah Ngige who spoke to Hivisasa.com in Athi River town on Tuesday, said it was unfortunate that the engine was completely grounded this time that the region expected to experience El-Nino rains.
Ngige said it would be disastrous if the rains alongside other emergencies strike since the engine was the only one that had been assigned to the Mavoko sub-county fire offices.
"We as the sub county must be worried because we know how important the engine is to this region, the sub county has for along time been prone to lots of emergencies such as fire brake outs, road accidents and drowning all of which the fire engine responded to immediately," said Ngige.
Some of the fire brigade personnel at the sub county who spoke to Hivisasa.com said they have been reporting to work on daily basis but just idle around since the engine broke down.
They said attempts by their bosses to plead with the county government's top management for the engine to be repaired had been futile.
"Our bosses tell us that the leadership of county government of Machakos has for a long time maintained that there is no funds for repairing the engine whenever they request that the problem on the engine be fixed," said a fire brigade.
The residents have called for speedy intervention in to the issue by the county government to ensure the problem was speedily fixed claiming there were already two fire break outs in the nearby Kitengela town that caused a lot of damage including consuming a minor, a situation they argued could have been contained if the engine was operational.
They expressed their fears that the situation would worsen if no action was urgently taken to ensure the engine was operational given that the region is prone to lots of emergencies.