Malaba residents' hopes for the establishment of a fire station in the town have been dashed, raising fears they will have to rely on neighbours Uganda in case of disaster.
MCAs on November 13 rejected a proposal by Busia county’s Disaster Management department to acquire a fire engine to be stationed in the town.
The assembly shot down the Sh55 million budget for the initiative.
The approved 2019-20 supplementary budget shows that the money was diverted to finance health insurance coverage for the county executive.
The MCAs approved Sh281,285,925 for health insurance.
The assembly also rejected a Sh10 million proposed expenditure to fund the completion of construction for the Disaster Management Centre in Amagoro town.
The centre is expected to ensure timely response whenever disasters such as fires happen in Teso North subcounty and parts of Teso South.
The Disaster Management department had said the county’s second fire engine would help avert property destruction and loss of lives in Busia’s second-largest town.
For now, it appears Malaba residents will have to rely on neighbours Uganda and well-wishers in case of a disaster.
That has been the case as witnessed in some recent fire incidents.
For instance, on July 10, a fire broke out in Uplands estate in the town.
Residents made calls to the county seeking for help, but two hours after the fire was reported, the county firefighters were nowhere in sight.
Locals found help from Uganda police who arrived at the scene to put out the fire.
Unmitigated, the incident would have caused more destruction to property and the loss of life.
A similar incident had happened on May 20, 2015 when a fire broke out at the Veterinary Department offices in Amagoro town, seven kilometres away from Malaba.
During the incident that started shortly after 5pm, Amagoro residents had to seek help from the Uganda police after calls for county fire engine be dispatched went unheeded.
By the time Ugandan firefighters arrived, the wooden offices had been reduced to ashes.
Busia county sits on a 1,694 square kilometres, stretching from Budalang’i in Port Victoria to Changara near Mt Elgon in Teso North subcounty.
It is almost impossible for the only fire engine stationed in Busia town to respond to fires reported in towns far away.
The fire engine is parked at Governor Sospeter Ojaamong’s office compound in Busia.
The fire engine’s movement is also encumbered by the bad state of some roads within the county.
Chief officer responsible for disaster management Ezekiel Okwach told the Star he could not comment on the rejected budget because he was engaged in meetings.
Disaster Management director Joseph Ekisa said the MCAs should have passed the budget because risks to businesses in Malaba town were serious.
“They cancelled the budget from the supplementary estimates although they had initially passed it from the original budget. They did the same with Sh10 million for phase two construction of Busia disaster centre,” he said.
He said they will continue coordinating with other partners such as Bungoma fire department and the Uganda police.
“There is a heavy presence of trucks carrying dangerous cargo in Malaba and the town needs a fire engine. We will propose it again next financial year.”
Malaba Central MCA Ben Papa said he will prioritise the acquisition of fire equipment during the 2020-21 financial year.
“In the next fiscal year, that will top my agenda. We have to protect people’s businesses. Malaba is a big town that needs firefighting equipment,” he said.
Jubilee 2017 Malaba ward hopeful Edward Oluku criticised the move by the MCAs to cancel the engine’s budget saying the decision was undertaken by people with selfish interests.
“Malaba as a transnational border cannot afford to stay without a fire engine. The county government of Busia majorly gets its internal revenue from Malaba border. The MCAs decision was myopic. You can’t put at risk people’s lives,” he said.
He added, “Imagine a situation where a petrol tanker accidentally catches fire in Malaba town. All vital investments will be destroyed. Malaba will remain a shell. A disaster management centre is vital in any economy.”
He said even during other disasters like floods, it would be difficult to give support.
“People are displaced. Disaster is real. Where do citizens go for help? That management centre must be completed," he said.
The Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Linus Asiba said the decision by the MCAs was informed by a memo from Governor Sospeter Ojaamong.
“When we passed the budget, there are items the governor wanted to be given priority such as health insurance and the payment of Kenya Revenue Authority dues,” he said on phone.
He said that because of the memorandum, they had to review some of the items with bulk money.
“But in the next financial year, we have planned a lot for Malaba and a fire engine will be one of them. We also plan to allocate Sh100 million for the trailer park,” he said.
(O.O)