Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) CEO Simba Guleid has called for new ways in dealing with drought and water challenges in the northeastern counties. Speaking today during inspection of a water project at Iftin in Garissa Township, Guleid said that while there has been perennial water challenges in the region, a lot of water has been lost through flooding and the rest flowing out through River Tana. The project, which is an underground water borehole of about 35 meters deep was allocated about 7.5 million dollars and is expected to serve over 30,000 households in Garissa Township.
“We are undertaking an assessment for establishment of regional water masterplan entailing how we can tailor-make the water solutions in each county,” Guleid said .“We can have ways of harvesting the runaway water from rains and the flood water into a water reservoirs and dams or search for underground water,” he added. FCDC serves as a catalyst in promoting, integrating & sustaining peace & socio-economic development of Northern Kenya. The counties are Garissa, Isiolo, Wajir, Mandera, Tana River, Lamu, Marsabit, West Pokot, Turkana and Samburu. The 10 counties under FCDC have received an accumulative amount of 35 million dollars for the last 5 years from the Swiss government and other development partners to mitigate water and drought challenges.
The Swiss Ambassador to Kenya Valentin Zellweger said that his government is committed to coming up with viable projects that would bring solutions for water, drought and flooding challenges that have faced the northern region people for the past years. ”We do not only work together with the local authorities and FCDC but also with the private sector. We have companies that are working on these projects with us and that ensures that the project will remain sustainable even if the Swiss government decides to withdraw,” Zellweger said. The inspection team included Garissa county water CECM Abdi Omar, Garissa Deputy county commissioner James ole Kippury among others.
The Northeaster counties have continuously been hit by natural disasters like drought and floods. There have also been security challenges including boundary conflicts over scarce pastures for their livestock and Al shabaab invasion in some areas in the region have added more crisis to the people in the region.