Residents from Athi River sub-county have been urged to report cases of dangerous houses in the region for provincial administration to take action.
Addressing the press at his office in Athi River town on Wednesday, area deputy county commissioner Albert Kimathi said his office was keen on preventing deaths or injuries as a result of collapsing houses.
“I have called on chiefs to solicitize information from members of the public across the sub-county so that occupants of all houses with cracks be evacuated immediately,” said Kimathi.
Kimathi said he will engage relevant stakeholders to talk to owners of such houses to either voluntarily bring them down themselves or renovate them where possible as long as they are safe for human inhabitance to avoid unnecessary loss of property.
He said he will use diplomacy to engage all the stakeholders to ensure residents of all houses within the sub-county were safe from house collapse at all times.
Kimathi said there was a trend by some residents to defy eviction orders whenever issued by the government for their own safety just because they wanted sympathy and relief support once trapped in danger.
He said few weeks ago, some residents refused to move from danger zones before they were trapped in flash floods at Kasuitu slum in Athi River town.
Kimathi said such people insist on staying in the danger zones so as to be rescued by the government using a chopper.
“Some of the residents have a habit of refusing to move from danger zones however much we request them to do so, we recently appealed to them through different ways including the media but they declined only for a number of them to be trapped in floods along Rivers Athi and Mto wa Mawe,” said Kimathi.
“Kindly let the residents themselves tell us whose houses are in state of collapsing, this will help us strategize to avert the situation before disasters strike,” said Kimathi.
Kimathi said the government will not entertain members of public and landlords who defy orders while issued to ensure both human and property safety.