The Ministry of Water and Irrigation has engaged Narok residents in a day long public participation event in a bid to collect views that will be critical in the implementation of mega water projects in the area.
The Central Rift Valley Water Works Development Agency Corporate Communication Manager Carlos Cheluget said their aim is to implement projects that are fronted by the people so that they can benefit from them.
The public participation forum was held at the Narok North Youth Empowerment Hall and attended by Ministry of Water Senior Deputy Director Francis Bore and a host of Members of Narok County Assembly.
Others in attendance were Narok County Commissioner Isaac Masinde, Narok East Member of Parliament Ken Kiloku and religious leaders.
“We will internalize all the views given and see how we can incorporate them in our final report,” said Cheluget, adding that the initiative was a presidential directive to move around all the 47 counties gathering people’s opinion before the implementation of the mega water projects.
John Kool, the Narok chairman of Persons Living with Disability thanked the government for the initiative saying water is the main challenge in Narok County.
“We have been informed that one constituency will be given Sh100 million to build dams and implement mega water projects. This is very encouraging as the women who used to trek for long distances looking for water will now find it near their homesteads,” he said.
Kool observed that there few permanent rivers flowing across Narok among them River Mara, Ewaso Nyiro river, River Siyiapei and River Narok which are not adequate to serve the entire population in the county.
The Kenya Kwanza administration has committed to prioritise the construction and expansion of dams in order to boost irrigation and help address the food crisis in the country.
The dams hold immense power to stimulate food production as it cuts over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture as well as mitigating effects of drought as they ensure enough water for domestic and irrigation purposes.
Access to water is a big challenge in many parts of Narok County as the residents trek as far as ten kilometers in search of water during prolonged dry seasons.
By Ann Salaton
