• Says two years ago, his government came up with the idea of developing clusters in areas doomed as safe grounds and that residents have begun embracing it.
• Met with Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Asha Mohamed in his residence last week when they agreed to strengthen their partnership to address the disaster.
Tana River Governor Godhana Dhadho has appealed to the national government and donors to partner with his administration to construct houses for flood victims to end the perennial disasters.
This is after residents living in flood-prone areas agreed to be relocated to safer areas permanently.
Dhadho already met with Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Asha Mohamed in his residence last week when they agreed to strengthen their partnership to address the disaster.
During the meeting, Dhadho said two years ago, his government came up with the idea of developing clusters in areas doomed as safe grounds and that residents have begun embracing it.
The governor said they have received applications to build clusters for some of the families affected by the disaster.
"We have about 50 applications from villages that are willing to move. Some have begun clearing the earmarked areas," he said.
Dhadho said the only solution to floods is the construction of new homes in the safe zones identified by the county government.
He said they cannot do the work alone as it is expensive adding that with support from the national government and humanitarian organisations, it would be easy to resolve the perennial disasters.
Dr Mohamed, who spent three days in the county to assess the situation, said they are ready to work in partnership with the county to begin the process.
The Red Cross secretary-general said the only solution to the perennial disasters would be to ensure people are relocated to safe zones.
Speaking in Galili after a boat ride on the flooded River Tana, Mohamed said they were currently distributing non-food items to 4,500 households and promised to support relocations.
"Instead of using the funds to buy non-food items, it better to promote the development of the community, we are happy that wananchi have accepted to move," she said.
The SG said once people are settled, they will spend more energy in their agricultural and pastoral activities to move forward.
So far, over 48,000 residents in Tana River have been affected by the disaster in 15 wards with some of the villages completely cut off.
Already, thousands of residents living in low land areas have agreed to be relocated.
For the first time, residents have openly resolved to begin life afresh in safe areas as opposed to being evacuated each time it floods.
Some of those affected returned to their homes a month ago but have been forced to live as Internal Displaced Persons in camps after floods recurred.
They have now realised the losses incurred are huge for them, the government and humanitarian firms who never tire from supporting them.
On Thursday, the team visited some of the IDP camps in the Tana Delta at Bandi and Peponi before heading to Galili by boat accompanied by area MCA Masha Boru and Garsen MP Aki Hashaka Wario.
At Bandi, displaced residents in camps said they are tired of living in the flooded areas and want the county government to relocate them to safe areas.
In Galili, entire households are submerged. There are still people living on the island as there is no access to safety.
Bandi youth leader Omar Dokota said they have been incurring huge losses for many years due to the floods.
Each time there are floods, he said, they are forced to abandon their homes to the roadside where they camp for months and then return to the same flood zone to start life afresh.
''We talked to the governor and he agreed to set aside land on higher grounds at Minjila," he said.
MP Wario said the situation was worse in Tana Delta as six wards can only be accessed by boats.
Wards affected include Garsen North, South, Central, West Kipini West, Kipini East, he said.
''The whole of Garsen Central is submerged; the country is faced with coronavirus pandemic but for us the biggest disaster is flooding," he said.
Wario appealed to the national government to allocate emergency funds to build the remaining 3,000 households in safe zones.
He said President Uhuru Kenyatta has the capacity to allocate over Sh3 billion to build houses for the residents.
Tana Delta residents also called on the government to repair dykes that have been destroyed by the floods.
Other areas affected include Tana North and Galole constituencie.
Edited by R.Wamochie
