Tana River county government is developing a spatial plan to steer development and create investment opportunities.
This is a collaboration of the county ministries, Jumuiya ya Kaunti Za Pwani, NGOs and donors among them FAO, UN Special Operations Kenya Space Agency, Nature Kenya, and the World Food Programme.
Lands executive Mwanajuma Hirbae said the process will be completed in 15 months to enable the county have proper planning.
Mwanajuma told a two-day seminar at Tana Palace in Hola that the reason for bringing in all stakeholders is to establish a cooperation framework for enabling projects to be implemented easily. .
She said the Lands department has limited resources and needed to be empowered to be effective.
''When we joined this ministry, there was one cartographer, planner and one surveyor. Now we have four planners, three surveyors, two cartographers and we are ready to implement projects," she said.
The cooperation will enable the county to identify the areas it can handle and where donors can come in to support, the executive told the seminar also attended by Senator Juma Wario.
She said the county government has started a project to assist flood victims settle in properly structured clusters fully equipped with roads, hospitals and schools.
According to Mwanajuma, 14 pilot clusters are being developed to bring together housing, agriculture, urban planning and industrialisation.
"We are trying to link this programme with the state's Boma Yetu for investment opportunities after the housing projects are complete," she said.
The intention is to have a permanent solution to floods. Already, over 50 applications have been received and payment will be long-term.
Wario said the spatial plan will earmark the areas for agro and pastoralist activities and identify land for industrial use.
The clusters programme, he said, was important to ensure people live in permanent areas that will not be affected by floods.
Jumuia ya Kaunti za Pwani CEO Emmanuel Nzai welcomed the spatial plan idea. He said Tana River is one of the six coastal counties engaged in the plan. Lamu has completed theirs.
"Already there are donors who have shown interest in supporting the spatial plan which will help in promoting development," he said.
The CEO said they would engage the county assembly then all stakeholders and the public so as to come with a permanent solution.
Tana River has had perennial conflicts between farmers and pastoralists over land, together with disasters such as floods.
Edited by R.Wamochie
