The Nakuru County environment department has embarked on a two-day anti-littering campaign with a clean-up of the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret highway.
The campaign aims at removing litter from the highway as well as arrest offenders who have been throwing trash, especially plastic, while travelling.
According to the Director of Environment, Mureithi Kiogora, private motorists are the major contributors to environmental pollution along the highway.
“Most of the people contributing to the littering are literate people who understand well the impact of environmental pollution, most of them being private motorists.
“During this exercise, we shall be arresting the offenders and make sure they are charged in court,” said Mr Kiogora.
160KM OF NATIONAL HIGHWAY
He said Nakuru County has about 160 kilometres of the national highway passing through it thus making it prone to careless disposal of waste.
He said the highway that runs from Mombasa to Uganda is very busy, which makes Nakuru prone to the littering which piles up within a short period.
“Nakuru has a delicate ecosystem because it is home to a large population of wild animals and it hosts lakes like Elementaita and Nakuru which are not far from the highway,” said Mr Kiogora.
Mr Kiogora said the department is working to bring on board all stakeholders who include the police, National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) so as to find a permanent solution to the problem.
“We want to ensure that all road users are responsible of their waste and they will only dispose it at designated places,” said Mr Kiogora.
