Kiambu county is developing a disaster management policy, Deputy Governor James Nyoro said on Thursday.
Nyoro said the policy will link county hospitals with the fire department so that casualties can be rescued from the scene of the disaster and taken to the nearest health facility.
He further said the county has identified institutions with boreholes and those that are connected to mainstream water sources so they can set up hydrants for refilling fire engines.
“As a county, we appreciate the investment made by Poland in the fire fighting facility. We are coming up with a disaster management policy to ensure our subcounties have the facilities to mitigate disaster,” the deputy governor said.
He spoke during a tour of the fire station in Kiambu town. The facility was built by Polish Centre for International Aid (PCPM). The organisation provides humanitarian, development and rescue aid around the world.
Nyoro was accompanied by Deputy Minister Marcin Przydacz in charge of development cooperation in Poland and Poland Ambassador Marek Ziolkowski.
The deputy governor said the country has a deficit of personnel and equipment to rescue people during disasters.
He urged youth and residents to get training on firefighting and disaster management at the Kiambu town fire station. After training, they will automatically be employed by the county government to plug the shortage of personnel in the fire fighting department across the country.
“We need to be prepared to handle disasters, and we welcome investments of disaster management,” Nyoro said.
Marcin said Poland's cooperation with Kenya has been beneficial for Kiambu county. He said that apart from disaster management, they have also invested in dairy farming. Farmers have benefited from milk coolers and other equipment.
“Through business political relations and people to people contact, we have seen tremendous progress in the projects we have undertaken in the country thanks to PCPM and financial support from the Polish government in the efficiency of fire and rescue services across 25 counties,” Marcin said.
