A total of 98,000 residents of Turkana central and Loima sub counties have begun benefiting from water projects jointly sponsored by the county government, UNICEF and the Korean International Cooperation Agency.
KOICA Country Director, Jang Hee IM, said that the partnership was also big on the software aspect as water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and behaviour change communications had been included too.
Hee IM lauded the County’s commitment to the partnership which he said will see about 98,000 residents in the project areas getting access to water and improved sanitation services.
While promising continuous skills transfer for proper management of the resulting water infrastructure, the KOICA director urged the County to adopt a more innovative funding mechanism for financing Operations and Maintenance emergencies for sustainability.
On his part, Chief Officer for Water Services Moses Natome, has lauded the joint partnership of the County Government, UNICEF and Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), for delivering sustainable and inclusive water supply infrastructure for residents of Loima and Turkana Central Sub Counties.
Natome said the project has delivered 90 percent of its target as at February 2022. He said the projects’ target was to deliver 76 boreholes over a period of four years ending 2022.
Natome was optimistic that the remaining six boreholes will be completed within the remaining one-year period.
Speaking after a two-day inspection tour of the projects Natome said that the joint venture had also created a platform for strengthening the water Governance system through the training of Water Users Associations at the grassroots level.
On design of the project, Natome said, “the intentional inclusion of the community water points, storage facilities, extension piping and animal drinking troughs was meant to allow for multiple use of the precious commodity sustainably and guarantee the right to portable water to the targeted populations.”
Paul Lotum (Ag Assistant Director Water Services), Kennedy Omondi (Sub County Water Officer Turkana Central), Benedict Ekeru (Sub County Water Officer Loima) and UNICEF staff also participated in the two days inspection tour.
By Peter Gitonga and Sylvester Ekuwam
