Tana River leaders demand govt compensation after floods devastation » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 29 – A section of leaders from Tana River County are pushing for Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and the Kenya Electricity Generating Company to compensate locals affected by the raging floods.

This follows an accident where a private boat that was ferrying an unspecified number of people capsized between Madogo and Garissa Sunday evening.

Tana River Senator Danston Mungatana insisted that the government agencies must compensate the affected persons saying the unfortunate turn of events unfolded due to negligence.

Mungatana pointed out that several dams situated in the coastal county have exacerbated the crisis following the release of overflowing dam water levels downstream.

“We don’t want tokenism this time round. The government should have a proper compensation mechanism. Its because of the hydropower dams that we are affected,” he said.

The Tana River Senator called for long term solutions to the issues affecting the region especially during rainy and drought seasons through construction of mega dams in the area.

“The government should either increase water levels in the current dams or they should construct more dams,”Mungatana said.

Bura MP Yakub Adow blamed KENHA for the unfortunate boat accident saying their failure to repair the Garissa-Nairobi highway which was cut off by the raging floods at Madogo led to the incident.

The Garissa-Nairobi highway was cut off last year following flash floods which happened last year.

Adow claimed the booming boat business that has turned tragic is because of the closure of the road section connecting Madogo and Garissa.

“If the road was repaired last year then this accident wouldn’t have happened. The boat business became a booming business because the road was cut-off,”he said.

Adow emphasized that KENGEN should compensate the locals for failing to sensitize the residents to move to higher grounds following the increased water levels.

“KENGEN should compensate the locals for releasing the waters downstream without ensuring proper sensitization to the locals,”he noted.

Mungatana added;”Proper sensitization was not done.The government cannot announce that people should move to safer grounds without any coordination. The announcement was made through newspapers which most locals have no access.”

Tana River Woman Representative Amina Dika urged the government to speedily address the concerns of the locals following the crisis caused by the raging floods.

“It’s unfortunate that we are affected by floods as well as drought.We want to urge the Ministry of Water to harness ways of harvesting the water so that we are not affected by drought,”Dika stated.

Tana River has broken its banks following the heavy rains, which has caused many areas to be affected.

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