The National Government through the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning is working to implement the National Spatial Plan (NSP) in Kilifi County to ensure balanced development, after presenting copies of the framework to the County Commissioner and the Office of the Governor.
During the presentation of the plan witnessed by County Commissioner Kutswa Olaka in his Kilifi office, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Physical Planning, Mr Enosh Momanyi Onyango, stated that for the country to realize its vision 2030, there was a need to have a national framework to ensure government projects are evenly distributed and implemented at the right places.
Onyango disclosed that there was a tendency of undertaking developments in an imbalanced manner and also implementing development projects to areas where the kind of intervention would not work.
He added that the implementation of the NSP is due to recommendations to have a national framework which will provide guidance on where the projects should be cited, so as to realize balanced development in the counties and the country at large.
“This plan is already in operation since 2015 and will run all the way to 2045. It shows where projects in every county should be placed, the kind of projects that should be prioritized and where they should be sited,” Onyango said during an interview with the media.
The PS highlighted some projects in Kilifi County that were implemented at the wrong places, including the Chakama Smallholders irrigation scheme which was carried out at an area infested with elephants saying such mistakes will not happen if the spatial plan is well implemented.
“Projects were not cited on the basis of information. But now with this framework which we have shared with the County Commissioner and the County Government, we believe that going forward we shall not have a repetition of that kind of intervention in the county because what this causes is total loss and wastage of resources,” he explained.
The County Commissioner Kutswa Olaka expressed his hope that the spatial framework will be crucial in early planning of development schemes and strengthen the county’s efforts to accomplish key national and county government projects across the region.
By Jackson Msanzu and Harrison Yeri
