Residents of Murera and Theta wards, Juja Sub County have raised Sh 0.5 million to construct a makeshift bridge that links between Ruiru and Juja Sub Counties after the one they were using was swept away by the recent floods.
The bridge connects the two Sub Counties at Canaan market and is crucial for accessibility and interactions between the two areas that trade a lot.
Led by the Maendeleo project chairman, Alfred Lagat, they said the move was necessitated by neglect by their leaders and other government agencies to intervene and that have been cut from moving to either side for close to a month.
‘We formed groups and raised our contributions from which we have constructed a concrete bridge after the suffering that we have been going through crossing the other side of the river. It will help us in the time being though it is not a strong one,’ Lagat said.
They said accessing schools and hospitals has been a challenge as they had to manoeuvre through the river which sometimes proved dangerous.
‘It has
been a difficult one month since the bridge was swept away. Some of us have been confined in our sub county thus limiting us access to services. We have reached our leaders but no help has been forthcoming,’ Lagat said.
The residents called on local leaders to help construct a permanent bridge that can withstand heavy rains saying in the event heavy rains pound in October, the makeshift one that they constructed may also be swept away.
‘We need a permanent solution because we have suffered a lot in this area. We use this bridge to take our kids to school, to go to work, and to the hospital and we fear the problem might recur in future if no action is taken,’ said Ruth Mibei, another local.
They also called on the government to also rehabilitate access roads so as to ease accessibility in the area.
Source: Kenya News Agency