Roads, health and agriculture in governor's checklist for county development

What you need to know:

  • Already, the government has improved 1,100 km of roads and a further 250km upgraded to all-weather status.
  • The government is also improving Kimbimbi, Sagana and Baricho health centres for the residents to access health care in the rural areas.
  • To boost Agriculture, the government plans to distribute coffee and avocado seedlings to all farmers in the region.

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has announced a raft of plans to improve the lives of the residents in the region.

She cited transport, Agriculture, Trade and Health sectors as some of the areas which require urgent improvement to spur growth.

She noted that roads play a pivotal role in development and her government was determined to ensure the region has a well-established road network.

Roads hold the biggest multiplier effect in development of any society and her government is determined to improve all roads for easier transportation of farm produce to the markets and to open up landlocked rich agricultural areas.

Already, the government has improved 1,100 km of roads and a further 250km upgraded to all-weather status.

COUNTY ADDRESS

Speaking on Wednesday afternoon at Kerugoya hospital as she delivered her State of the County address, Ms Waiguru noted that for decades, the residents had suffered due to poor infrastructure but promised that during her leadership their lives will be transformed.

"We are among the best resourced counties nationally in terms of heavy equipment having purchased ten brand new trucks, five graders, two excavators, two rollers, a crane and a prime earth mover. Our roads’ improvement efforts include construction of drainage culverts, and bridges," she said.

On Health, Ms Waiguru admitted that the sector faced some setbacks in the past with Kerugoya referral hospital being the most affected. However, the sector is now doing well following the intervention of the county boss.

IMPROVED INFRASTRUCTURE

To improve the sector, a Sh1.5 billion five storeyed building which will accommodate 500 in-patients is under construction while a fully-fledged CT scan centre has been established at Kerugoya.

Further, the construction of the eye unit has been completed while a renal unit with eight machines where patients undergo dialysis has been put in place to improve health services.

The government is also improving Kimbimbi, Sagana and Baricho health centres for the residents to access health care in the rural areas.

Ms Waiguru's government wants good markets built in all urban centres to promote trade. Already six markets have been constructed in the past two years and several others are in the pipeline.

BOOSTING AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is the backbone of the region's economy and the government is working towards its improvement.

To boost Agriculture, the government plans to distribute coffee and avocado seedlings to all farmers in the region.

In seeking to improve productivity, the government has already distributed 130, 000 coffee and avocado seedlings to farmers across the region.

In addition, extension services are being conducted to farmers on good agricultural practices so as to improve their produce competitiveness for other markets.

" While we work to improve yield through different interventions, such as the management of the quelea birds menace that resulted into bumper rice harvest in the last financial year, we recognise that farmers will not benefit from increased harvests if they have nowhere to sell their produce. This understanding is making us to focus our trade activities in creating markets as a means of improving farmers’ abilities to earn better incomes from their farming activities," she said.