By KEPHER OTIENO
About 50,000 people living in the informal settlements in Awendo’s Jiw dendi and Okwanyo estates in Migori County are set to benefit from the World Bank-sponsored slum-upgrading project.
Already, the beaconing and topographic survey under the Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project II (KISIP II) has begun to improve residents’ living conditions.
Yesterday, contracted surveyors spent the better part of the day moving around the estates and marking the road sites before the tarmacking of the slum roads starts next month.
According to Arthur Orangi, the County Project Coordinator the slum projects will improve the living standards of residents through the planned infrastructure improvement.
“The project has components that will support local businesses and create job opportunities, and contribute to economic stability and growth within the marked community,’’ he said
Orangi spoke as he supervised the ongoing beaconing in Jiwdendi slums in Awendo, where there are more than 100 jobless youth who have been contracted to help in the exercise.
Awendo Municipality Manager Nelson Mandela, and Migori counterpart, Dismas Owino, said they will upgrade basic infrastructure such as roads, sanitation, and water supply, which will drastically improve living conditions.
These include repairing and expanding essential amenity services and electricity connections where no power existed working in collaboration with the line government agencies.
Mandela said improving the quality of housing, whether through renovations or new construction, will help in providing safer and healthier living environment for the slum dwellers.
Currently, the cadastral survey is being conducted to accurately map out the land parcels in the informal settlements of Okwanyo in Migori town and JiwDendi estate in Awendo.
This survey will help in defining the boundaries of each plot, which is essentialfor legal documentation, said Owino.
“Once the planning and surveying are completed, residents are issued lease certificates or Certificates of Rights of Occupancy (CROs),’’ explained Mandela.
Thesedocuments will legally recognize the residents’ rights to their land, providing them with security and the ability to use their property as collateral for loans and other business deals.
This process will not only help in formalizing land ownership but also contribute to reducing land disputes and promoting investment in the marked areas.
Broaderplans entail, enhancing access roads to schools, healthcare facilities, and recreational areas to ensure that residents have better opportunities for education and health.
Orangi said this is a significant step where more than 50,000 households will bebeneficiaries.
This will enable them to invest in their plots with confidence, knowing they have legal ownership after beaconing because they will be given lease title deeds.
This initiative, with the support from Governor Ochillo Ayacko, highlights thecounty’s commitment to improving living conditions and infrastructure in the informal settlements.
“We are pleased with the KISIP II slum-upgrading project, working closely in this with the County because it will improve housing, roads, and water infrastructure and undoubtedly enhance our quality of life,’’ said Ayacko.
Awendo MP Walter Owino noted that the project is a blessing to the people of Migori County who have for a long time found it difficult to invest in the plots due to a lack of tenure security.
Owino also lauded the project as good and like Rangi and the beneficiary residents thanked the World Bank for considering undertaking the project in the sugar belt town.
“This will improve the town’s aesthetic value,’’ he said.
Jiwdendi estate has been one of the places where issues of sanitation have been a challenge in the past.
Owino asked the residents to embrace and support the project terming it a game changer and milestone coming for the first time to a shanty town, where sometimes are hardly recognized for such multimillion projects.
Migori County is among the 33 Counties that are benefitting from the Kenya Informal settlements Improvement Project 2 (KISIP 2) having two benefiting settlements.
The project’s ultimate objective is “to improve access to basic services and land tenure security of residents in participating urban informal settlements and strengthen institutional capacity for slum upgrading in Kenya.
Five more settlements of Sare, Athiko, Dede, Kododa, and Kehancha Chini are lined upfor the same activities of Planning, Survey, and issuance of lease certificates.
Thereafter 18 settlements will undergo infrastructure upgrading under component, which entails paving of roads and construction of drainages, installation of streetlights, installation of waste receptacles for Solid waste management, and connection to clean, and safe water among others.
