Scrap dealers in Mombasa have been warned against buying vandalized county infrastructure parts.
Speaking to Baraka FM at his office, Mombasa County Transport and Infrastructure CECM Daniel Manyala warned scrap dealers saying that action will be taken against scrap dealers dealing in vandalized county infrastructure.
CEC Manyala cited opened stormwater and sewer manholes being witnessed across the county due to manhole covers being vandalized.
“Over time, the county has invested a lot in these covers, and some of them are very expensive. We have seen a systematic organization of criminals vandalizing these things, stealing them at night,” said CEC Manyala.
“This is now even being witnessed in streetlights, you will see somebody climbing up a streetlight, and their aim, we have established, is the arm, that is metallic that they go sell to scrap dealers,” he added.
The Infrastructure CEC warned scrap dealers saying the county will soon launch an operation to flash them out.
The operation will involve the national government agencies and the county government’s enforcement unit.
“If you are a scrap metal dealer and you buy stolen equipment, stolen metals, or any part of the critical infrastructure belonging to the county, your days are numbered,” said CEC Manyala.
Meanwhile, the county is piloting fiber-based covers to solve the open manholes.
“We are trying to make sure that the fiber-based covers are reinforced as much as possible to withstand weights. This material has been proven to not have a lot of market value even to those who want to vandalize,” said the CEC.