County gives Sh107m for infrastructure

By BRYAN TUMWA               

Kakamega County Government has allocated Sh107 million to infrastructure development in Matungu Constituency.

This comes in the wake of a government report that Kakamega, Nairobi and Bungoma are the largest contributors to the National Poverty Index due to their huge populations. Lamu, Isiolo, Kirinyaga, Taita Taveta, and Tharaka Nithi ranked lowest in the State report.

Governor Wycliffe Oparanya announced the allocation when he commissioned various projects in the constituency on Wednesday.

“As part of the programme, all primary schools in Matungu will be properly equipped. It is the responsibility of the county government to establish an early childhood development (ECD) system together with classrooms and teachers by 2017,” he said.

The county has allocated Sh50 million towards the establishment of ECD centres and the construction of two polytechnics and two girls’ schools. Primary schools will also be built in the five wards of Matungu, including Mayoni, Kholera, Koyonzo, Namamali and Khalaba wards.

Sh37 million and Sh20 million will go to the construction of a market in Kholera and upgrading of various roads, respectively.

Overreliance

“We put together various task forces for sugarcane, dairy, horticulture and livestock and came up with solutions to reduce the poverty levels in the area,” said Oparanya.

He warned that poverty in the area was due to overreliance on sugarcane farming, and poor pay for the produce. “Our people insist on sugarcane farming at the expense of food crops, yet they are not in charge of the production process, hence they end up losing because the prices are controlled from elsewhere,” Oparanya said.

The solution, he said, is to discourage millers from getting involved in tilling farmers’ land or supplying them with farm inputs.