Garissa County Government has embarked on setting up a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) lab to facilitate development planning and management.
The GIS lab is expected to provide a platform to store and manage digital footprint of development projects in sectors such as water, education, health, roads, rangelands, environment and natural resources.
Clause 105 (f) of the County Government Act 2012 requires county governments to establish GIS-based database systems for provision of data in the development of County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP).
The technology is important for decision making during planning and allocation of resources for the Annual Development Plan (ADP).
Speaking today during the launch of the lab, Deputy County Secretary Yunis Yussuf said that the county government has appointed a 13-member GIS resource team who will spearhead the operationalisation of the GIS lab.
Yussuf said the geospatial technology is necessary for Garissa County because it still faces numerous challenges such as unplanned settlements, degraded rangelands, inadequate or unplanned infrastructure, low quality of development projects, poor monitoring systems, mushrooming of new settlements and unequitable resource allocation due to lack of appropriate tools for decision making.
“We have resolved to use GIS technology in cognizant of these challenges and the need to streamline monitoring of development projects and ensure equitable resource allocations based on evidence,” Yussuf said.
Present were Director Donor Relations and Coordination Mohamed Sahal, Director Water Osman Aden, Director Special Programmes Abdikadir Arab, Director Environment and Natural Resources Mulki Mohamed among others.
By Jacob Songok
