The residents of Tula Tula in Eldas Sub-county will no longer walk for tens of kilometres in search of water, after the government launched a major water project that will serve both their domestic and livestock needs.
The Tula Tula Water Project, which has been done by the Northern Water Works Development Agency (NWWDA) at a cost of Sh60 million, will serve a population of over 12,600, neighbouring schools and health centres.
Speaking during the launch of the project Tuesday, Water and Sanitation Principal Secretary (PS) Eng. Joseph Njoroge noted that the government is working to ensure easy access to water by all Kenyans across the country, through their water development agencies.
“We have nine agencies spread across the country to make sure that Kenyans have access to water. NWWDA covers Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Samburu, Marsabit and Isiolo counties. We have water projects in all these counties, some that we have already launched, while others will be ready soon,” said Njoroge.
Eldas MP Aden Keynan, thanked the government for initiating water projects in the North Eastern Region to mitigate the effects of drought.
NWWDA Chairman, Osman Issack, noted that there has been acute water shortage caused by recurring drought over the past three years.
“With the support from the government, we will drill more boreholes in the Region and continue water trucking to supply water to our pastoralists in the grazing areas,” Issack said.
The Chairman further emphasized on the need to harvest rain water, especially in a County which has been faced with floods.
“We need a sustainable plan for water storage. Construct larger dams and harvest rainwater, which can be used for agriculture and serve us for a long time,” he said.
Issack urged the area residents to guard the water infrastructure from vandalism, which would take them back to water shortage.
“Our work is to lay the infrastructure and make sure that everything is working, then hand over the project to the county government. We want to come back here and do more projects not to start repairing the broken ones,” he said.
By Erick Kyalo
