A multi-agency disaster response team wants some camps set up for landslide victims closed.
The team comprising the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the county government and the Kenya Red Cross Society officials wants Tamkal Primary School camp closed immediately over fears that it is located in a landslide-prone area.
It proposes that Tamkal Primary School evacuation centre in Pokot Central sub-county be moved to Paroo because an assessment carried out by KDF soldiers had shown it is unsafe.
The school is among the areas affected by landslides after one of the dormitories school was destroyed last week.
The members proposed the merging of Nyarkulian, Paroo and Parua camps, saying the three camps would ease coordination and distribution of humanitarian aids to affected families.
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Speaking yesterday during a meeting chaired by Pokot South deputy county commissioner, Fredrick Kimanga in Kapenguria, the team asked the local leaders to help convince a section of residents resisting evacuation to safer areas.
“There are people still staying in areas marked as dangerous for human habitation and resisting evacuation. We call upon the local leaders, chiefs and village elders to assist in convincing them to move to safer areas,” said Mr Kimanga.
In a joint report, the team called for harmonisation of the number of the people affected, noting that figures provided by the county disaster management and Red Cross were different.
Philbert Murie, county director of health, said the different figures by the two agencies had made distribution of humanitarian aid difficult.
“We found the number of people affected by the disaster from county disaster management to be much higher compared to that from Red Cross, making it hard to plan distribution work," said Dr Murie.
He singled out Nyarkulian camp where, according to the county disaster management, 400 households were seriously affected while 1,800 people displaced. But data from the Red Cross indicated that only 52 households were affected and 676 displaced.
He said the committee should be guided by accurate and concrete data.
The committee operationalised multi-agency teams in every evacuation centre, where they will meet on a daily basis and report to the county team.
