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The miraa task force is seeking county government approvals to build sheds and sink boreholes in Meru.
The Miraa Taskforce Implementation Technical Team (MTFRITT) yesterday also advertised works for the sinking of 15 boreholes and six earth dams and water pans in the three counties where the crop is grown – Meru, Tharaka Nithi and Embu.
The works were advertised by the State Department of Crops at the State Ministry of Agriculture, under which the MTFRITT is domiciled. It is chaired by Administrative Secretary Kello Harsama.
Ten boreholes will be sunk in five constituencies in Meru, three in Tharaka Nithi and two in Embu.
SEE ALSO :Growers oppose miraa funds use
Embu is also to get five earth dams at Kamuguchu, Nyuari, Murindi, Gitiburi and Kiangithi villages, which are to be spread in four wards in Mbeere South and Mbeere North. More earth dams are to be built at Mukothima in Tharaka constituency in the neighbouring Tharaka Nithi County.
“This is a major leap towards implementation of our wishes as miraa farmers and traders. Next in the pipeline is implementing works for miraa trading sheds and Kenya miraa marketing strategy development,” said Kimathi Munjuri, a member of MTFITT.
Task force implementation team insiders said the team was racing against time to ensure that all the funds under the budget capped at Sh940 million were committed to projects before the budget cycle demanded that the surplus be returned to the National Treasury for redistribution in the 2019/20 budget.
Boards of management
The team is also seeking letters of no objections from the county governments and school boards of management where some of the boreholes will be sited.
SEE ALSO :Embu miraa farmers demand more of Sh1b kitty
Correspondence seen by The Standard shows that the team is taking care not to duplicate projects such as boreholes and miraa trading sheds in the selected areas or to build them in areas where ownership of land is unclear.
“There is underhand scheming in these proposals to fleece the funds,” said Nyambene Miraa Farmers and Traders Sacco Chairman James Mithika. “Why build sheds at Laare, Mutuati and Maua, where there are already facilities built by the county government?”
According to Mr Mithika, the shed at Laare was not being used and had been converted into a car wash and idle ground, yet it was in a prime location near a half-acre plot hived off the health centre.
“Duplication of projects under the miraa fund looks like a real possibility and a situation analysis would have been key because even the Maua, Mutuati and Kangeta facilities probably only needed expansion and modernisation, and not completely new sheds,” said Mithika
Related Topics
Miraa Taskforce Implementation Technical TeamboreholesMiraa Farmers
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