It really pains me that in this century, and with our County surrounded by the lake, our people still suffer to get water. Statistics show that the average distance to a water point for Homa Bay residents is 5km. Our mothers trek 10 km both ways to search for this golden commodity. Sometimes, the water is algae infested and humans and cattle compete for it.
Water is mostly fetched by young girls and women in this region. For the girls to reach school in time, they have to wake up early and begin the water fetching trips as early as 5am. The risks involved are great pointers to the HIV/AIDs and early childhood statistics in Homa Bay. School dropouts, truancy and poor performance are also highly attributable to this.
Our fertile soils lie fallow because of scarcity of water. Lake Victoria has turned out to be a destructive asset instead of an oasis of hope for our people. The rising water levels and the lake backflow has displaced several families and affected the economy around the lake. It is time that we must now put our brains together to solve the perrenial water issue in Homa Bay. Enough is enough!
Homa Bay has an irrigation potential of 8,996 ha according to the Government. Only 13% of this land is under irrigation. The renaissance Homa Bay government will invest in irrigation to exploit our full potential and make the county food secure. This will be achieved through sustainable use of the water from our 121 springs, rivers, backflow water among others.
To ensure accessible to clean and safe water, we will exploit the gravitational capacity at Kasipul, Kabondo and Suba to quench the thirst of Homa Bay people living in the lowlands.
We will rehabilitate the existing water supply schemes, increase capacity and improve on efficiency. It is sad that currently, 65% of water from the schemes are not accounted for - either through leakages or other wastages.
Homa Bay Manyien will explore partnerships to relieve us from the water crisis once and for all. Water, Sanitation and Health is my number one priority for Homa Bay and we have a right blueprint to quench the thirst of our people.
Water is life..
Posts
0 Comments