Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has called on residents living along the Kerio escarpment to embrace the affordable housing programme as a permanent solution to the perennial landslides in the Kerio Valley.
The CS said residents of the area should rethink their attachment to individually owned land saying time has come for them to release a portion of land for the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) where the government would construct houses and provide basic amenities like water and electricity among others.
He added that once people are settled in an area, the government would then construct schools and health facilities among other social amenities.
The CS was speaking in Kibendo during the burial of a grandmother and her grandchild who were killed by boulders in their home following heavy rains.
The CS said once people get homes, they could then release land for farming saying AHP was not just about provision of houses but was also aimed at consolidating land and its protection for future.
He also called on area residents to allow for the establishment of a public cemetery saying the idea of each family burying their dead was not sustainable in the long run with the ever increasing population.
The CS cited Trans Nzoia county saying while before people had thousands of acres, currently the parcels have reduced to 5 acres saying it would continue reducing thus the importance of changing the perception about ownership of land.
To date, Elgeyo Marakwet County does not have a public cemetery with residents arguing that each family has land where they could bury their loved ones.
Murkomen cited European countries where people are buried in public cemeteries which are well maintained by the government with the family visiting their loved ones whenever they wanted.
Speaking during the same occasion, area Senator William Kisang said leaders had sat down and resolved that residents should respect the spencer line which protected the escarpment by avoiding farming on steep slopes.
The Senator hoped that this time around, compensation, resettlement and environmental measures would be accorded the seriousness they deserved saying this should be the last time that people are dying as a result of landslides.
The Kibendo victims are among the first to be buried in a series of burials for those who died in landslides across the county. On Monday 17th, a burial ceremony will be held in Embobut/Embolot in Marakwet East Sub County and Sambirir in Kerio Valley Subcounty respectively while the last one will be held in Chesongoch.
By Alice Wanjiru
