SOMETIMES BACK GOVERNOR CYPRIAN OTIENO AWITI WAS INTERVIEWED OVER VARIOUS DEVELOPMENT AGENDA AND HAD THE FOLLOWING TO SAY, BUT AGAIN THE QUESTION IS WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GOOD PROJECT? Tell us about the planned Agri City project. Is it a hoax? This project is a reality. Those calling it a hoax are not sincere. This project is a Joint Venture Project between Homa Bay County Government and Good Earth Power, an International consortium based in Oman with interests in construction, energy, communications and land development sectors. The company’s primary purpose is to leverage unique technologies to drive forward self-sustaining growth and economic prosperity in developing nations through the provision of energy and infrastructure. What is the status of the project and when do we expect the official launch? The project will be implemented in three phases, which will last 30 years. The partners will invest around Sh560 billion during the project period. The County Government’s only contribution to this project is the 1,050 acres of land at Riwa, in Karachuonyo. Many people question the project because of the money involved but they forget that this is a long-term project. Big projects such as this normally take long to kick off. Take for example the Standard Gauge Railways project and the Lamu Port. They were conceived during the last regime and have not taken off. This does not mean that they are a hoax. The project’s initiation ceremony took place on 2nd October 2013 at the project site in Riwa. The company’s engineers are currently undertaking design work. Pre-feasibility study report has since been done and delivered to Good Earth Power on Wednesday January 22 this year. I want to tell our people that the project is on course. How is the project going to benefit Homa Bay residents? The project aims at creating approximately 20,000 jobs. Its The main objective of the is to deliver modern homes (100, low cost houses) in fully integrated communities, which incorporate clean power (175 MW), roads, purified water, waste management and telecoms, all using environmentally friendly technologies. The project’s main focus will be the creation of a modern agricultural industry for the improvement of local nutrition as well as provide job security and future economic growth for the region. The development will be delivered in phases by a consortium of globally recognised EPC companies and building materials suppliers. What about the row between locals and the county government over the land where the project will be? The row ought not to be there in the first place because the issue of land had been resolved long before the investors came for the launch. This land has been lying fallow for close to 40 years because of a dispute between two clans- Kauma and Kakdhimu. It’s the elders from the two clans who approached the County Government and offered to give out the land for the county’s project of choice. They said it was pointless to let it lie fallow. We held a series of public meetings which were all attended by the Ministry of Lands officials. By the time representatives from the two clans finally agreed to sign an agreement to transfer the land, all avenues and processes had been exhausted. The elders again publicly confirmed they had handed over the land during the launch attended by thousands of people. It is therefore wrong for a few people belatedly come out to claim they were short-changed. What are your achievements for the last one year and what do you want to achieve in five years? We have done quite a lot during the first one year in office. The most important achievement is that we have been able to set the structures. We found a county only existing in name. We worked with Transitional Authority and the County Assembly to set up structures and setting up offices. We were among the first counties to development a comprehensive Country Integrated Development Plan (CIDP). This is a critical document because it provides the road map for development. It has helped us to identify our priorities and we are moving on very well. During the first one year, we have started a number of projects. We have employed 1,100 EDCE teachers. We have started a poultry improvement projects in all the 40 wards which has employed hundreds of youth and women. We have started work on major roads across the county. More than 205kms of these roads will be upgraded to bitumen status. We have started opening 12 kms of road in each of the 40 wards. We have opened an animal feed factory in Homa bay. Pineapple and potato processing factories are under way in Rangwe and Kabondo sub counties. The list is long. Homa Bay has one of the worst health indicators in the country what are you doing? Address HIV Aids, child mortality rates? It is true Homa Bay County has one of the worst health indicators in Kenya. This is something that has given me sleepless nights. I have personally been leading the war against HIV&AIDS. I have made it a duty to educate the people about this scourge and the messages are sinking very well. We have involved various Non-State actors in the fight against HIV& AIDS. Most of these NGOs are targeting the fishing communities which have borne the brunt of the disease. Tell us about Wadagi? Wadagi is a Dholuo word which translates to : “We have refused” to allow preventable diseases to kill our women, men and children. It is a joint venture between the County Government, UNICEF and KEMRI. It is meant to step up the health campaign to help tackle the disease burden in our county. Homa Bay County is the first County to launch the “wadagi initiative” aimed at rallying leaders, individuals, families and communities behind the following Four Core Commitments to prevent and control spread of HIV. Under the initiative, more than 3,000 community health workers have been trained on various community health skills. They will be equipped with special mobile phones which they will use to relay data to concerned authorities on the health issues in the villages. From my office, I will be able to know how many children have been diagnosed with malaria and whether they have been treated or not. It is a very good project and we thank UNICEF for this big help. Homa Bay is endowed with various tourist attraction sites, how do you plan to harness them? It is true Homa bay is a tourist haven waiting to be exploited. We have beautiful beaches and scenic rolling hills. We have Lake Simbi Nyaima and the Ruma National park, the home to the rare Rhone antelope. We also have the Huma Hot springs, among others. We are currently mapping these tourist sites to establish their potential. We are also in discussion with strategic investors. We are particularly appealing to local investors to come and build resorts along the lake. We want make Homa bay the next big thing in tourism. We want to take over from the Coast. Homa Bay is endowed with a larger part of Lake Victoria, How do you plan to use the lake to benefit locals? The lake is our biggest economic resource. In fact we have 80 percent of the lake on the Kenyan side. We produce the highest quantity of fish in the country. We have the most beautiful beaches. The lake is not only a source of fish but provides transport. We have held discussions with various investors on possible construction of a fish processing factory in Mbita. We have signed a joint MOU between counties bordering the lake and a foreign investor on a multi-million lake transport opportunity. We want add value to fish harvested from the lake to help fight poverty among those living along the lake. We also want to start aquaculture and horticultural farming long the lake. The lake continues to record a high number of deaths due to mishaps, what are you doing to mitigate the same? We are partnering with the Kenya Maritime Authority to educate the people on safety measures. The Authority recently held a training session in Homa bay during which fishermen and other lake users learnt safety tips and rescue techniques. How do you plan to deal with the hyacinth menace? Water hyacinth has been a big problem on the lake. It has made it difficult to put this huge resource to good economic use. It has blocked fish landing beaches and interfered with lake transport. We initially started a project to harvest the hyacinth but this did not go according to plan because of some technical reasons which we are addressing. We are in discussions with other collaborators on the water hyacinth menace. Some areas in the county experience serious drought? Tell us what your government is doing? We are addressing this issue jointly with the national government. We are considering constructing water pans in drought prone areas to help the people during drought. We are encouraging those living near the lake and rivers to venture into irrigated farming to ensure food security during the dry spells. We are also encouraging our people to plant drought resistant crops. What is your government doing about roads? We have embarked on a massive infrastructure development. We have rolled out project to improve 205kms of our key roads to bitumen status. This will include the ring roads on Rusinga and Mfangano Islands. We are also opening 12kms of roads in each of the 40 wards. We are also opening new roads where residents have never seen roads before. Anything to empower youth and women? The constitution is very clear on the status of women and the youth. We have programmes that address specific problems affecting the youth and the women. In my office, three of the Members of the Executive Committee are women, one of whom is a very young lady. Again, three of the ten Chief Officers are women. We have reserved thirty per cent of our procurement needs to the youth, women and people living with disability. I want use this opportunity to urge them to be on the lookout for such tenders. We have also identified projects that will bring quick economic returns to the youth and women. These projects include the provision of car washing machines, Saloon equipment, shoe shine tools, Cyber cafes, among others. The hatcheries project I mentioned early, also targets youth and women. Any programmes to promote sports? My government has big plans for sports. We are renovating the Homa Bay stadium. We have launched a talent search among the youth with a long term plan to establishing a talent academy. Homa Bay has produced many reputed sports personnel and I believe there are still many more to be discovered. We are supporting various sports activities across the County. Your county also experiences flooding, especially at this time of the year Homa Bay, like other counties on the lowlands, has experienced annual flood related disasters. As a county we are working on a blue print that would help tame the floods once and for all. My office is an active member of the County Disaster preparedness committee. I believe the best way to address these perennial flood menace will be to build big dams downstream the rivers that have been flooding homes and farmlands. I have talked to a few investors who are keen on doing these job.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 16:00:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015