By Kabaraj Richard
Wood traders and carpenters operating at the Line Moja area in Kitale town have challenged the County Government of Trans Nzoia to build lavatories for them.
The traders lament that they are having a hard time when they want to attend to the call of nature.
Speaking to the press, the traders led by Owen Wafula claim their efforts to reach the relevant authorities over the matter have fallen on deaf ears.
Wafula, a carpenter and also a security officer, pointed out that the Laini Moja area had latrines before the expansion of the Kitale-Suam road which led to the demolition of the structures.
The traders say they are now forced to use the Trans Nzoia Primary School fence and the bushes along the railway grounds to relieve themselves.
“We had places where we could relieve ourselves but they were demolished during road construction leaving us with no place to hide when we do our thing,” the carpenter said.
With the current situation, the traders now fear for their health as they urinate in what they have described as not very hygienic places which are also littered with human stools.
Health and privacy concerns
“Just look at a place we call lavatories. It is soggy with human urine plus if you are not careful you may step into somebody’s faeces since street urchins use the same place to relieve themselves too,” added Peter Shabalanks, a local carpenter operating along Mosque lane in the busy Laini Moja Street.
Women who work in the area either supplying food or painting the furniture and sewing cushion clothes are also facing it rough.
They cannot use the bushes as freely as their male counterparts.
“You know we women cannot do our thing while standing like our male counterparts leaving us with totally nowhere to go for obvious privacy reasons. You can even end up being raped if you go to the bushes as they are infested with street children,” noted Faith Naliaka, a tailor specializing in cushions and other furniture assortments.
Aside from their health concerns, the traders also fear being evicted after public health officials gave them a warning over their habit of urinating in a public school’s fence.
“They told us we are liable to prosecution from our move to urinate on the school fence as we endangered the lives of school children,” another trader said.
Heavy rains
Their troubles have been compounded by the heavy rains pounding the area as they fear the waste may infect water sources downstream.
“You see we are working on higher ground than other parts of the town and the lack of toilets makes us urinate everywhere threatening the water sources especially those who use boreholes and river water,” noted Owen Wafula, a trader who plies his trade in the same area.
For now, they are calling on the county government to rebuild the two toilets that were brought down to pave the way for the duelling of the road in a bid to help them keep their environment safe.
“Let them build for us the latrines so as to save us the shame of meeting with our sons and in-laws in the bushes as a call on nature has no respect for the age of the affected person.”
The Laini Moja area is popular among the locals for its quality furniture and timber products. It has a huge traffic of customers that stream the area seeking items to furnish their households.
