Taita-Taveta County has intensified disease surveillance activities to avoid outbreak of water-borne diseases following heavy rains that have caused flooding in many parts of the county.
The Ag. County Executive Member for Health, Daniel Makoko said emergency meetings held to discuss the status of the floods had taken into account the risk of disease outbreaks. He added that adequate medical and non-medical provisions had been procured to avert any outbreak.
Speaking to KNA on Tuesday, Makoko said the county had enhanced monitoring of the affected areas with the Governor Granton Samboja personally taking charge of the operations.
He added that the priority was resettling of the 48 families displaced by floods.
“So far, there is no reported case of disease outbreak and we are still monitoring the situation to make sure our people are safe,” he said.
The Department of Health has also urged the residents to use treated water as there was a risk of drinking contaminated water. Most common diseases associated with dirty water include typhoid, cholera and dysentery.
In the last two weeks, heavy rains in Taita Hills have seen unprecedented flooding in the lower zones. Voi Sub County was the hardest hit after Voi River broke her banks leading to displacement of over a hundred families. Villages of Tanzania, Mswambeni and Maweni were flooded and property worth millions destroyed.
Taveta Sub Csunty has also reported flooding in some areas including Kimorigho and Kitobo.
As part of efforts to mitigate against future flooding, the County government has issued a blanket ban on sand harvesting in Voi River. Already, the Department of Lands has embarked on an exercise to map out the riparian sections said to have been destroyed by encroachment.
The County has also allocated 42 land parcels for resettlement of families displaced by the flooding in Voi Sub County.
By Wagema Mwangi
