The Mombasa South mainland is set for a Sh606 million sewer treatment plant funded through the French Development Agency AFD and the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), new disclosures showed.
The IDA is a development finance institution that offers concessional loans and grants to the world's poorest developing countries.
AFD is a public financial institution that implements policies by the French government, mainly focused on fighting poverty.
A regulatory filing by the Coast Water Works Development Agency (CWWDA) said that the sewer treatment plant would be built within the Ng’ombeni sub-location, Matuga sub-county in Kwale County.
“The Faecal Sludge Management Facility is a short-term intervention to address the acute sanitation needs of the South Mainland and is part of a longer-term plan that entails the construction of a conventional wastewater treatment plant to serve the population by the 2040,” the company said.
“In 2017, a masterplan study was carried out and identified that a conventional wastewater treatment plant in Ng’ombeni is necessary and viable to serve the projected population of the area by 2040,” CWWDA added.
Mombasa South mainland is presently served by on-site sanitation systems comprised of septic tanks and pit latrines.
“These common systems of disposal are, however, not supported by proper sludge management and disposal facilities and pose environmental and health risks to local populations,” the water and sewerage agency said.
“Inadequate sewage management in the sub-county is thought to be responsible for ground water contamination, and the prevalence of water-borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and malaria,” the agency added.
CWWDA said that the planned sewer treatment plant would sit on a 40-acre parcel of land within the Ng’ombeni – Maweni Settlement scheme.
WDA said that the sewer treatment plant would form part of the immediate or short-term measures to address the sanitation concerns in the Mombasa South mainland.
“This short-term intervention aligns with a longer-term plan for constructing a conventional wastewater treatment plant in Ng’ombeni to serve the sub-county's population by 2040,” the agency said.
“The site for the FSMF is within the Ng’ombeni – Maweni Settlement Scheme, Ng’ombeni- Waa ward, Matuga Sub- County in Kwale County and bordering Shika Adabu ward, Likoni Sub-County, in which approximately 40 acres has been identified to be suitable. The wastewater masterplan estimated about 50Ha of land would be required for the full wastewater treatment plant for the projected design horizon of 2040,” it said.
