Public Works Principal Secretary Joel Arumonyang has urged Kenyans to support the government in achieving key pillars of its development agenda for future generations.
Speaking at his former primary school, Kapsangar primary school, Pokot south sub county, where he led residents and delegations from various government departments in a tree planting drive to mark this year’s Mazingira Day, Arumonyang underscored the value of planting more trees for environmental sustainability.
He urged Kenyans to plant 30 trees each to assist the government in achieving its 15 billion tree targets by 2032, emphasising that past human activities have reduced forest cover and contributed to climate change.
“This area is so significant because it is among the water towers with a high affinity for both indigenous and exotic trees hence should be protected at all costs.
We have to join the government in ensuring that trees lost through human activity are restored,” he urged.
Arumonyang, who was accompanied by a team from his department planted over 5,000 trees, noting that the government was performing its best in the five pillars of development vis-à-vis universal health coverage (SHA), Affordable Housing, Digital Superhighway, Agriculture and Environment and Climate Change, rallying all Kenyans to join the bandwagon.
He praised the residents for maintaining peace in the area bordering Elgeyo Marakwet County.
“This border school has successfully produced numerous professionals and is located near two well-performing secondary schools and ten primary schools.
The tree planting campaign associated with this institution will help the government meet its objectives,” stated the PS.
The government has also come up with initiatives aimed at reducing charcoal use, which remains prevalent in some areas, for instance some schools have begun using LPG for cooking, leading to a decrease in firewood consumption and contributing to reduced tree cover.
“Many schools depend on firewood, but we have about 20 schools that are currently using gas as their main source of energy,” said Arumonyang.
On his part National Construction Authority Director Engineer Mourice Aketch underscored the value of trees in the construction industry.
Eng. Aketch maintained that for a sustainable construction industry there must be enough trees to produce timber that is essential for any form of building commonly known as green construction.
On his part, Noah Maina, a businessman said as the private sector they will not lax in supporting the government in the tree planting initiative mentioning that trees play a key role in addressing challenges occasioned by global warming.
The Sub County Director of Education Mary Ngolengor stated that the tree planting initiative aims to enhance the learning environment in schools and consequently improve performance.
By Richard Muhambe and Antony Melly
