Construct dams to conserve rain water, Tana River leaders tell state

Tana River leaders want the national government to construct dams in the area to help harvest the water during the rainy season.

The area Members of Parliament said that such move would help the residents from the dangers posed by perennial floods.

The lawmakers led by Senator Danson Mungatana said that the county has lost more than 20 people in the latest boat accident in the Mororo area where 50 people are said to have been on board with some not accounted for.

According to Mungatana, 80 per cent of electricity is generated from dams upstream which normally overflow with the water ending up in River Tana posing a risk to the residents.

And now Mungatana wants the national government to compensate residents because they shoulder the burden for electricity generation in the country.

“We urge the government to expand the dams or construct new ones to ensure that the people of Tana River are safe whenever there is flooding since asking the residents to move to higher areas might not be of much help at the moment,” said Mungatana.

The leaders said that the residents have lost homes, schools, hospital, churches, mosques and other public utilities through flooding which could have better been handled if there were adequate measures in place.

Tana River Woman Rep Amina Abdullahi said that it was unfortunate whenever there are heavy rains the county residents suffer.

Ms Abdullahi said that it was time the government came up with contingency measures to protect the residents, adding that whether it is during rainy season or drought, the residents majority women and children suffer most.

Yesterday, Ms Abdullahi requested the government to provide safety boats and urgently address humanitarian crisis, charging that a cholera outbreak that is likely to pose a bigger health risk during the rainy season.

“Women and children have been heavily affected following the floods witnessed in Tana River county, we are condoling with the relatives of the more than 20 people who have lost their lives at the Mororo area boat accident with many more still unaccounted for,” said Abdullahi.

Bura MP Yakub Adow blamed the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) for inefficiency in constructing roads since the latest boat accident could have been prevented if there were proper roads to be used by residents.