The Kajiado County Assembly has approved a supplementary budget of Kshs. 135 m towards the Covid-19 pandemic kitty.
Assembly Speaker Johnstone Osoi said the MCAs approved the changes from their homes through a digital-driven sitting since parts of the County are under lock down and also to ensure social distancing is achieved in order to curb the spread of Coronavirus.
The Assembly accepted to raise the County Emergency kitty from sh.40 million to sh. 140 million and commit the 25 million of the Foreign Travel money to purchase of drugs and other pharmaceuticals.
Setting up of isolation units in six health facilities was allocated Sh. 20 million while 18 million went to putting up an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with at least 7 beds.
Emerging operation expenses of the medical staff received sh.14 m while food supplies in hospitals was allocated Sh 8 m.
Chairman of the Budget Committee, Kenyawa Poka, who is also MCA Henry Kimiti said the move was necessary to salvage the situation and avail funds to support the County in enhancing its preparedness against the pandemic.
“We have had to knock off money from some projects that we felt can wait for the next financial year. We focused on the urgency of the crisis and we believe this will set the pace for our County’s COVID-19 preparedness,” said Kimiti.
So far 150 health workers in the county have been trained on prevention, control and management of the virus and Sh.50 million set aside for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the medical staff.
Isolation centers have been set up at Kitengela Sub-county hospital, Olé Kesasi Health Centre, Oloitokitok and Namanga.
Similarly, Kajiado County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha revealed that 20 boarding schools in the county have been identified as quarantine facilities.
Nkanatha said the county was prepared in case of any eventualities and urged residents to continue adhering to measures given by the Ministry of Health in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
The CC further called upon business owners to strictly adhere to set guidelines aimed at fighting the novel Coronavirus or risk losing their permits and licenses.
Among the guidelines required to be adhered to by businesses include: providing water and soap for washing hands, ensuring that social distancing is adhered to and limiting the number of customers entering their premises at a given time.
“We are determined to ensure that all directives are adhered to and we will not hesitate to close down any business, big or small that will not adhere to the set guidelines because we must remain safe for us to win this battle against Covid-19,” Nkanatha emphasised
He added that so far 25 business permits and licenses have been confiscated from Kitengela, Kiserian and Kajiado towns for failing to adhere to the directives.
The Commissioner said security officials will be conducting impromptu raids on business premises to ensure compliance.
By Rop Janet
Kajiado Allocates Sh135 million to Combat Covid -19
