The Uasin Gishu Firefighting Section under the Department of Roads, Transport, Energy and Public Works continues to remain the main entity in the North Rift Region and parts of Western Kenya.

The team has been praised for their quick response to serious distress calls and safety standards inspections to ensure safety and reduce fires.

Under outgoing Governor Jackson Mandago, the department has 53 trained officers and has acquired five fire engines, two rapid response vehicles, two ambulances, three water tanks and a turntable ladder, as well as a pick-up truck. rescue, a trolley and a foam fire-fighting vehicle, devices that greatly facilitated humanitarian services.

To ensure that the residents of Eldoret are aware of fire safety, the fire brigade has played a key role in the training of residents as well as the practical training of students from various institutions and residential premises in the city of Eldoret on emergency evacuation and other safety measures.

County Executive Committee Member for Roads, Transport, Energy and Public Works Eng. Gideon Birir said the availability of the three water tankers has ensured adequate water supply whenever an incident occurs.

To improve safety and minimize the risk of fire, the officer in charge of the Uasin Gishu firefighting section, David Sitati, said officers were still carrying out inspections of tankers and ordered that trucks are parked in reserved bays located at Maili Nne and Burnt Forest.

They also carry out frequent inspections in quarries where instructions have been given for the installation of safety gadgets to reduce accidents.

The county now has three fire stations, one with Eldoret CBD, Burnt forest and Maili Nne, which have reduced response time to fires.

As he steps down from the governor’s seat, Governor Mandago is also proud of his administration for improving the transportation section to ensure county machinery is properly maintained and used for its intended purpose and not misused. .

The Transport Section has been instrumental in maintaining the entire county fleet, including motor vehicles and heavy machinery, ensuring they are in good working order and the fuel is carefully managed to facilitate the implementation of projects across the county.

The section has been working closely with various departments to improve service delivery to Uasin Gishu residents by ensuring that all machinery is operational, especially supporting the road department in implementing projects and Department of Environment and Water during the desilting of dams throughout the sub-counties.

According to the Acting Director of Transport and Mechanical Services, Lazarus Sile, the section has a total of 170 motor vehicles and trucks, and 49 heavy machinery which has been of great support to ensure that all departments are in able to carry out their core mandates. how they manage their mobility.

In September 2021, Governor Mandago formed a task force to strengthen and operationalize the county’s service delivery entities. The working group, composed of private and public sector experts in strategy, management, agriculture, water, public works, finance, administration and human resources management, and a civil service secretariat for coordination, handed over its report in December 2021.

The Task Force was tasked with formulating new legal frameworks or improving existing legal frameworks, reviewing human resource capacities, establishing structures, policies and guidelines, examining challenges and the strategic orientations and to provide a roadmap for the operationalization of the entities.

The County Mechanical and Transport Fund is one of the entities that has come forward to provide solutions to several challenges faced by the Department of Highways and additionally county contractors who have struggled to access vehicles and machinery for rent to complete projects on time will be assisted in order to expedite the implementation of the projects.

Some of the machines purchased by the regional government include 15 graders, 16 dump trucks, eight rollers, three cement mixers, six high mast floodlights, eight bulldozers, 10 excavators and five backhoe loaders, three water barrels, two canters and one wheel loader.

Thanks to the acquisition of its own machines, the county was able to successfully implement projects such as road infrastructure, street lighting and the desilting of dams.

Some of the bridges commissioned by the Mandago administration include Kaprorio-Kapchesogor (Sergoit neighborhood) and Saina Box Culvert (Kapseret/Simat neighborhood).

Others that have been operationalized are Cheukta-Ng’eny (Segero/Barsombe neighborhood), Chepsaita-Ng’enyilel Box Culvert (Ng’enyilel neighborhood), Kabitoi-Tendwo (Tembelio/Kaptagat neighborhood).

Kapsaos-Kapkoros (Kapsaos district), Kapkeno -Timor (Ainabkoi/Olare district), Kamoson in Ngeria district and Chelasgei-Kapkoros bridge in Karuna/Meibeki, Bodalands – Chelabal box culvert in Ngeria district and box culvert of Kamoson in Kapseret/Simat were also completed and commissioned during the 10-year term.

According to the governor, 1069.5 km of roads have been leveled, 411.2 km of gravel and 31.8 km of drainage works have been carried out.

In an effort to encourage a round-the-clock economy, the county has installed streetlights in all six county wards and in the town of Eldoret which aims to be elevated to city status in the near future. In the rural-urban lighting connectivity program, the county surpassed its goal by successfully installing an additional 1,400 LED streetlights.

As planned in the county integrated development plan (CIDP) 2018-2022 of the regional government, the decentralized unit aims to install more than 7,606 LED street lights by the end of 2022.

Eng. Gideon said 404 LED streetlights have been installed, in addition to 30 high-mast floodlights, 32 floodlights (15m) and 256 solar-powered lights spread across the county.

“I would like to thank the governor for allocating adequate funds, creating an energy directorate with sufficient human resources and also doing everything possible to negotiate with the national government and other development partners like Kenya Informal Settlement Project, the Kenya Urban Support Program who also supported us,” said Eng. Birir.

And in an effort to improve security surveillance, the county government has initiated the installation of CCTV cameras in the central business district of Eldoret town to boost investor confidence, prevent crime and strategically place the town of Eldoret to city status.

This is one of the measures that Governor Mandago is putting in place to ensure that the town of Eldoret is safe to do business and also has the proper tools needed to ensure it attains town status.

By Kiptanui Cherono