The government will deploy machinery used by road contractors in Laikipia County to create spillways on local dams that are all full to the brim and at risk of bursting.
A County Disaster Response Committee meeting was told that more than 31 dams spread across the county were full, and some had started leaking due to the ongoing heavy rains pounding the country.
The meeting co-chaired by County Commissioner Onesmus Kyatha and Deputy Governor Reuben Kamuri in Nanyuki town, which brought together all National and County government departments, was informed by the County chief officer in charge of water, Samuel Lemanyishoe, that the area was staring at a disaster if the water in the local dams was not controlled.
“All the dams, whether public or privately owned, are full. We need to ensure that their spillways are functional to prevent their walls from collapsing in order to avert any calamity,” Lemanyishoe said.
The County Chief Officer in Charge of Roads and Public Works, Engineer Peter Macharia, told the meeting that the county government had only two functional excavators that would not adequately respond to emergency cases in a timely manner should a need arise.
“Our two excavators are not enough to open up the spillways of all the dams on time, bearing in mind that the rains are still pounding heavily. That’s why it’s important we bring on board machinery from local road contractors to assist in the works,” Eng. Macharia said.
The County Commissioner noted that as the heavy rains continued to fall, the dams posed the greatest risk to lives, hence the need to move fast to avert any disaster.
“Currently, the dams pose the greatest danger to the lives of people, livestock, and property. As a committee, we have to move very fast to ensure that their spillways are functional and also access the strength of the walls based on the water capacity,” Kyatha said.
He instructed the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) to put all contractors working in the area on standby should their services and machinery be required to be available immediately.
The Deputy Governor informed the meeting that the devolved unit was working hand in hand with the National government to ensure that no lives were lost due to flooding in the area.
“As a county government, we have instructed the Chief Officer for Finance to set aside money for disaster response so that we are not caught flat-footed should an unfortunate thing happen,” Kamuri said.
Elijah Mbugua from the agriculture department informed the meeting that a total of 341 acres under maize crop, 398 acres under beans, 310 acres under cabbages, 230 acres under onions, 300 acres under French beans, 178 acres under tomatoes, 30 acres under herbs and spices, and five acres under wheat had so far been swept by the current floods.
Mbugua, however, allayed fears that the flooding posed a food deficit at the moment but warned that should the heavy rains continue, the area would face food scarcity.
Beatrice Wachira from the Education Department said that 21 schools were flooded, 42 others had their pit latrines sinking, and that among the submerged ones, 10 had leaking and dilapidated roofing across the county.
Wachira observed that there was a risk of waterborne diseases in the affected schools due to the sunken latrines should learners resume, while calling for a speedy response to the disaster.
The meeting was also informed that several roads in the area had been rendered impassable due to the flooding being experienced.
By Martin Munyi
