Residents come together to clear mounting garbage

Karen shopping centre on Saturday enjoyed a clean-up after members of the Karen Rotary Club organised a clean-up exercise.

The shopping centre has been experiencing an influx of various small traders who sell their merchandise, and food to members of the community.

The area also serves as the primary stage for the vehicular movement around Karen.

Like in many other city estates, mounds of garbage have piled up around the area, clogging the sewerage system and making the area a health hazard prone to various types of diseases, due to environmental degradation.

Being that a majority of the Rotary Club members reside or work in the area, the clean-up exercise was a way of giving back to their community.

The Rotary Club of Karen is part of the global network of over 1.4 million neighbours, friends, leaders and problem solvers who see a world where people unite; and take action; to create lasting change across the globe in communities.

The clean-up exercise at the Karen shopping centre was organised by the Rotary Club of Karen members under the leadership of the club’s president Lorrain Kirigia.

It was the culmination of two months of planning, and outreach to the various stakeholders to make it a success.

“Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues which include among others the protection of our environment,” said Ms Kirigia.

Huge pile of garbage

The exercise went on smoothly. What initially seemed undoable was finally done within four hours, and the huge pile of garbage was collected and loaded onto the waiting lorry for proper disposal.

The trading community was also educated on the need to keep their environment clean, and how to be their keepers by dissuading people from dumping all over the area. 

They agreed to get organised, collect the garbage frequently, and reach out for support on disposal.

There are no county government garbage bins where the trash can be deposited, which has contributed to the unplanned disposal of garbage all over the place.

A “No Dumping” sign was erected at the site to remind would-be dumpers to desist from littering the environment.

The exercise was made possible as the Rotarians had the support of the OCS Karen Police Station, OCS Karen Plains Police Station, Clean Edge Hygiene Solutions Limited, Lankana and Luminous Matatu Saccos, the small traders’ community at the Karen Shopping Centre, Rotarians, Rotaractors, and their friends and relatives.

The Rotary Club of Karen plans to conduct quarterly clean-up exercises in various parts of Karen, throughout the 2022/23 Rotary year. They also plan to educate and empower members of the community on the importance of recycling. 

“We urge all members of the community who are keen about keeping our environment clean, and healthy, to join us in our future events as we march forward together to protect our environment,” said Ms Kirigia.