ROADS
Up to Sh1 billion is needed to rehabilitate roads and bridges destroyed by floods in Kisumu County.
County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Roads and Public Works Salmon Orimba said the extent of damage was huge and the county government cannot manage to immediately raise the Sh1 billion required to restore the infrastructure.
“We have had abnormal rains from October last year until a month ago. It is now that the rains have subsided and most of our roads are destroyed. Close to a Sh1 billion is what we require to take the roads back to the state they were before the rains and these are not resources we have as a county government,” he said.
All the roads which were earmarked for construction during the period, he said have also not been done since construction could not be carried out with the heavy downpour. Orimba said an assessment of all the affected roads has been concluded adding that the county government was exploring ways to fix the most urgent ones as funds are being sought to repair the remaining roads.
“We have mapped out the roads which are important and have high traffic where we are going to carry out spot murruming, grading and filling up of potholes to ensure they are motor able,” he said. Road Maintenance Teams at the ward level, he said, have also been engaged to open up the drainage system and fill up gullies created by floods on rural access roads.
Despite the huge budget for the rehabilitation works, the department, he added will push for an enhanced allocation in the 2024-2025 financial year budget to ensure that the rehabilitation works are fast tracked. Speaking at Kombewa in Seme Sub-County during an outreach programme dubbed Huduma Mashinani, Orimba asked the community to give the county time to fix the infrastructure given the huge budget involved.
“The meagre resources allocated to the county government is shared across all the devolved functions. I want to assure the citizens that we are doing everything possible to restore the roads but it will take a bit of time,” he said.
County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Public Service and Administration Judith Aluoch said Huduma Mashinani was an accountability forum where the County Executive meets the public to take stock of the projects and programs conducted during the financial year.
“We have had an interactive session where we have outlined the projects undertaken by the county government and their status. We have also received feedback from the citizens on what we need to do,” she said. Opinion leaders from all the wards in the sub county, she said had an opportunity to ask various CECMs, Chief Officers and County Directors in various departments questions concerning various projects.
The exercise, she said targets all the eight sub counties in the area before the end of the financial year.
Annette Obat, a Programmes Officer at Step Up Together organization which has partnered with the county government on the initiative said members of the public now have an opportunity to give their input on what they expect the county to do for them.
Besides that, she said, they are also sensitised on budgeting processes and good governance. “Huduma Mashinani is a feedback mechanism that we as partners are supporting the county government to carry out at all levels, through this, citizens are able to get direct feedback on issues that are not addressed during the other public participation meetings” she said.