- The location of Hola Irrigation Scheme is at the heart of Hola town.
- Scheme was gazetted on April 26, 1963 and covers an area of approximately 12,630 acres.
Image: image: ALPHONCE GARI
Residents of Galole constituency in Tana River county have petitioned the National Assembly to facilitate timely degazettement of 2,000 acres in Hola Irrigation Scheme.
The residents said the degazettement in the southern and eastern parts of the scheme would facilitate the expansion of Hola town.
In a petition presented to the House on their behalf by area MP Said Hiribae, the residents said the gazettement should facilitate extension of the scheme’s northern borders by a similar acreage of 2,000 acres.
“The proposed degazettement and replacement of the south-eastern segment of the area will secure the expansion of Hola town and Tana River county in general through economic, social and infrastructural development that is currently hamstrung by the scheme’s current location,” they said.
Hola Irrigation Scheme was gazetted on April 26, 1963 and covers an area of approximately 12,630 acres.
The scheme is at the heart of Hola town.
Residents say the scheme has over the years hindered development of the area since it blocks the much-needed expansion of the town, which is the headquarters of Tana River county.
In the petition, the residents noted that the proposal offers a feasible option in addressing the long-standing challenge, and is a win-win arrangement that has been amicably agreed upon by all stakeholders.
They pointed out that the land in the southern part of the area is proposed to be replaced by a similar size of land in the northern part of the scheme.
The scheme was initially used to settle thousands of Mau Mau freedom fighters and residents of Tana River in the 1960s.
Hola was the site of a detention camp, the location of the Hola massacre in 1959.
To address this long-standing challenge, officials of the National government as well as representatives from Tana River county government, area MPs, the National Land Commission and other stakeholders met in Hola Town on July 15, 2021.
The meeting endorsed the degazettement of 2,000 acres in the southern and eastern parts of the scheme to facilitate expansion of Hola town.
-Edited by SKanyara