Meru County Government is set to hire at least 500 youth, who will be engaged in the construction of roads within the Meru Municipality.
Speaking during a consultative forum with the Meru Municipality business people, boda-boda riders, taxi operators and religious leaders, Governor Kiraitu Murungi said the move is aimed at reducing levels of poverty amongst the local youth.
“The greatest problem we have in this county is poverty and this can only be alleviated if we engage our people in income-generating activities. We are up to the task as a government in our endeavour to make Meru great,” said Kiraitu.
The Governor announced that they have already signed an agreement with the World Bank, where Sh275 million will be availed for construction of by-passes within Meru town, as well as other roads in order reduce congestion in the town.
He said the 500 young people, through a labour-intensive programme, will be expected to do the road construction works, where they will also receive training on the basic skills in road construction.
“After getting the required skills in road construction, we will be engaging them in future roads construction rather than hiring contractors to do the same job,” Kiraitu said.
The governor said his government had also started other initiatives to improve the lives of young people and women, especially in small businesses by setting up a revolving fund, where little money can be borrowed to get a start-up capital.
“We are aware that there is usually the issue of lack of capital among women and young people and this is why we have an initiative, where one can borrow as low as Sh5, 000 to start up a business and repay the money later at no interest rate,” he said.
Kiraitu also assured the county residents that more was in store for them and that his government was committed to ensuring that there was a positive change in terms of their living standards.
By Dickson Mwiti
