Residents of Taveta, Kishushe, and Sagalla areas of Taita Taveta County will now breathe a sigh of relief following the flagging off of a sinking exercise of 11 boreholes funded by Maranatha Volunteers International through Seventh Day Adventist Church Taita Taveta held at Taveta Central SDA Church.
The 11 boreholes will see Taveta get the lion’s share of nine boreholes, with Kishushe and Sagalla each getting one borehole, according to Maranatha Volunteers International Country Director Anuprova Rema Kedas.
The three areas—Taveta, Kishushe, and Sagalla—are notorious for extreme water shortages, and residents, mainly women and children, have to walk several kilometres each day to fetch the scarce commodity.
According to Anuprova, the boreholes’ initiative is part of a grand strategy to avail water to vulnerable and marginalised rural dwellers by enabling them to enjoy the universal right to basic needs and the fruits of devolved services.
“This project aims to ensure those people in marginalised areas, far away from the towns, get fair access to resources such as water since it’s a universal right, and at the same time bring closer to them the fruits of devolution,” said Anuprova.
He further urged the communities in those areas to fully own the projects and use them to improve their livelihoods since the availability of adequate water can open up opportunities in agriculture and help reduce poverty levels.
“These boreholes are for the communities. Own and embrace them to improve your livelihoods through upholding high sanitation standards and doing subsistence farming to bridge nutrition and dietary gaps,” he added.
In attendance and representing the county leadership, County Executive Committee Member in Charge of Youth, Sports, Gender, Culture, and Social Services, Shedrack Mutungi, reiterated the county’s open-door policy to partnership in community-driven and sustainable projects with a vision to improve access to water, health, agriculture, and education services.
“This partnership is a clear indication of the county’s leadership to work with governmental and non-governmental entities to ensure that our people have access to water, health, agriculture, and education services,” said Mutungi.
On its part, the county government will assist with hydrological surveys at the initial stages and later install solar-powered submersible water pumps to support water distribution to communities once the sinking and piping phases are complete.
By Arnold Linga Masila
