The government, through the Ewaso Nyiro South Development Authority (ENSDA) has initiated a Sh.8 million borehole to benefit residents of Enabelbel area in Narok North Sub County.
Speaking during the commissioning of the project at Ntimama Mixed Secondary School on Friday, the Environment Principal Secretary (PS), Charles Sunkuli said the borehole has a capacity to serve 1, 200 households per day, two schools and a milk cooler.
Sunkuli said he was optimistic that the water project would help in boosting livelihoods, as much time wasted previously in searching for water will now be used for economic gains.
“We all know that water is a basic need and that our mothers would waste a lot of time and energy looking for water after covering long distances. These efforts will now be directed towards jobs that can earn them a living,” said Sunkuli.
The PS said the availability of the water to the community would help in reducing cases of early marriage and pregnancies as young girls would no longer walk for long distances in search of water, which exposed them to men with evil intent.
“The girls were traveling up to three kilometres looking for water hence endangering their lives, we expect empowerment of girls to scale up with the availability of water near their homes,” reiterated Mr. Sunkuli.
During the function, the Narok County Commissioner (CC), Samuel Kimiti who accompanied the PS, praised ENSDA for providing an amicable solution to one of the basic needs of the community.
Kimiti said the government is using multi-agency approach in resolving critical challenges facing the people, adding that any progress made at the grassroots signified a big gain for the citizens.
“Multi-agency approach means we involve everybody in identifying our challenges and engage all the relevant departments in resolving them as one department alone cannot tackle all its challenges,” added the county commissioner.
A resident of Enabelbel area, Margate Sankale could not hide her joy, saying initially she would spend over three hours a day moving to and fro looking for water.
During prolonged dry seasons, Sankale said the situation becomes worse as they would travel up to five kilometers in a bid to get the precious commodity.
The 65 year old woman can now afford a permanent smile on her face as the water is only a few metres away from her homestead.
She narrated how she has seen many girls fall into the trap of early marriage as they walked late hours to far distances looking for water.
“We are short of words on how to thank our government. It’s a big honour to have clean water near our homesteads. We can now sleep comfortably knowing that the struggle for water is a forgotten story,” she said with a radiant smile.
By Ann Salaton
