By M, KNA
Residents of Thome village in Laikipia Central have protested over delays in completion of the construction of a crucial bridge that has seen the only water intake blocked for three months.
According to Hezron Njeru, Thome water project chairman, the initiative was supposed to be a big relief for over 800 homesteads and has now turned to be a source of agony for the residents who are now staring at big losses after their crops dried up due to lack of irrigation water.
“We incurred losses running into millions of shillings from our crops which have dried up due to lack of water. The contractor has been assuring us he would resume the bridge construction for weeks now,” he lamented.
He said that farmers have been left without water for domestic use with each homestead now spending a minimum of sh100 daily in buying the essential commodity from water vendors.
“We started this water project with the hope we would benefit with water for both farming and domestic use. It was supposed to be a lifeline for this community. However, it has caused us great loss in our farms,” he added.
For over four decades the residents have been pleading with the government to construct a permanent bridge across Tigithi River at Iriuko village to ease vehicle movements across seven villages.
Last year, the failure by the government to construct the bridge prompted the villagers to mobilize their own resources and put in a wooden bridge at a cost of Sh200, 000.
In June this year the Laikipia East National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) stepped in and pledged to construct a permanent bridge at a cost of Sh5 million.
However, the work has now stalled and the contractor who had promised to complete the work within a month has left the site reportedly due to delayed payments.
The residents have now issued a three-day ultimatum to the contractor to get back to the site, failure to which they will pull down the concrete walls to make the water intake operational.