Approximately 14,000 travelers, workers and traders who use the Busia border point weekly will benefit from cross-border water, sanitation and hygiene project.
WaterAid and the Kenya Water and Sanitation Civil Society Network will on Tuesday officially hand over the Busia cross-border water, sanitation and hygiene project to Kenyan authorities supervised by KRA.
The project is part of WaterAid’s efforts in building back better towards a post-Covid-19 world through strategic partnerships with the East African Community and Civil Society Networks across East African partner states and in bid to attain SDG 6, which commits to providing access to clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.
To help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and other diseases from spreading between countries, WaterAid has been setting up sanitation blocks with partners at busy border crossings in East Africa.
“The projects will help protect landlocked countries which rely on these crossings for free movement of people and goods,” WaterAid said in a statement on Monday.
The border point processes approximately 14,000 travelers, workers and traders and 7,000 trucks weekly.
“At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when cross-border infections were a much bigger threat and a contributor to the spread of the virus, WaterAid and KEWASNET responded by providing permanent handwashing facilities.
“Now, in recognition of the long-term benefits of containing Covid-19 and many other infectious diseases, the sanitation block has been equipped with toilets, showers, a changing space for caregivers to babies and a storage room to store cleaning equipment and WASH supplies,” the statement added.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Olutayo Bankole-Bolawole, WaterAid East Africa’s Regional Director said effective WASH in emergencies needs a holistic approach because pandemics will stay with us and it is how people manage them that matters.
“Whereas phase one focused on construction of permanent handwashing facilities at Busia border, during the second phase, we expanded the project to include gender-inclusive and disability friendly sanitation blocks with a total of eight bathrooms, 16 toilets and a changing space for caregivers to babies,” Bankole-Bolawole said.
Vincent Ouma, the Head of Programs at KEWASNET, said trading will be better if people are healthy.
“Ideally at KEWASNET, we hope that this intervention will be sustained beyond the Covid-19 pandemic to tackle other sanitation and hygiene related illnesses and improve the health and economic outcomes of Busia border. Our region’s borders are critical to the economy and so is the health of the business community,” Ouma said.
Truck driver at Busia border Omar Mubarak said with the handwashing facility, they can wash their hands there and then without having to buy hand sanitisers.
On Sunday, President Uhuru Kenyatta asked Kenyans to continue being cautious of Covid-19, saying, despite the relaxation of disease containment measures, the danger of infections spreading still lurks.
A research by Vivid Economics and WaterAid showed that by simply ensuring everyone has somewhere to wash their hands with soap and clean water, productivity increases, and billions of dollars in economic returns can be unlocked.
“Each dollar invested in water, sanitation and hygiene could generate up to a $21 return,” WaterAid said.
According to the report, the global economy could generate up to $45 billion per year and reduce the spread of infections in a Covid-19-like epidemic by up to 20 per cent.
