Persons living with disabilities in Baringo County breathed a sigh of relief during the opening of a sanitation block tailor-made for them after having suffered for long time without a clean facility to use within the town as they undertake their daily activities to earn a living.
Commissioning the toilet facility on Friday at the County Commissioner’s grounds in Kabarnet town in Baringo Central, County Women Representative Gladwell Tungo who was accompanied by the Deputy County Commissioner Rueben Ratemo and Chief Officer of health Salome Chelimo thanked the members of the disability committee for their patience as they constructed the facility using the NGAAF funds. “Thank you for being patient as it has finally paid off,” Ms Tungo said.
She has urged the committee to maintain the facility in good working condition in order to generate revenue for the special group in order to improve their livelihoods. She also promised to erect a water tank to ensure cleanliness of the facility during water shortages that may be experienced in future.
Ms. Tungo further said that the special group is close to her heart as one does not wish to be disabled and that was the least, she could do to ensure they were comfortable while undertaking their day-to-day activities in the busy town.
She challenged the county government to ensure more toilet facilities are built even in the market places to ease the burden of PWDs looking for clean toilets.
In his address, Ratemo lauded the efforts of the women representative in ensuring PWDs have a clean and accessible sanitation facility.
“This is a noble gesture and I am even worried that our office building does not have a ramp to ease accessibility for PWDs,” Ratemo said.
He praised the county CDF office as it was the only office in the county with a ramp hence accessible to PWDs and lauded the Member of Parliament Joshua Kandie for his efforts.
He added that his office would support the group in other areas such as relief food allocation as it has done in the recent past.
In her remarks, Chelimo promised to work together with the commissioner’s office to build more sanitation facilities in public offices and also urged residents to vote for leaders with a vision to spearhead development in the county.
“It is your responsibility to maintain the toilets in high standards in order to serve you for a long period of time,” Chelimo concluded.
The Baringo PWDs Committee Chairman Mr Cherutich has thanked Tungo for her great effort to uplift the living standards of the special group and noted that her efforts would not go unnoticed.
By Caroline Cherono
