Govt. urged to construct bridge along R. Lusumu
Residents of Lusumu village, Mwera sub location, Muhila location of Malava sub county in Kakamega county have called upon the national government and the county government of Kakamega to construct for them a bridge along river Lusumu that connects the two villages of Lusumu and Mugai.
Addressing the press at the riverside, residents of the two villages led by the Lusumu village Nyumba Kumi representative Christopher Maloba, complained that the bridge is a threat especially to the school going children who are forced to cross it to access education.
According to Maloba, accessing services in the next village has been a challenge for the last ten years and it worsens during the rainy seasons.
He says that the sick and the elderly face a difficult moment trying to access services in the other village given that motorcycles cannot pass across the bridge.
He added that an improvement of the bridge will economically change the two villages explaining that so far, the villagers have been working on their own to ensure that the bridge is passable.
Alice Okoto a resident revealed that it has been a challenge for women to access maternity services during labor explaining that the hospital is in Mugai village and those who reside in Lusumu must cross the river to access the services.
She said that the bridge is threat citing a case where a 14 year old girl recently missed a step and fell in the river but was saved by people who were grazing around.
According to her, the girl by the name Mary was lucky that it had not rained thus the level of water in the river was low adding that it could have been fatal.
Juma Matsanza a leader from the region has seen to it that residents access the two villages without any difficulties by funding the construction of a temporary bridge using poles.
Speaking during the construction process, Matsanza revealed that he intends to spend at least 10,000 shillings to ensure that the bridge is constracted.
He blamed the area member of parliament Moses Malulu Injendi and the county government for failing to construct a pathway across the river for the people.
Matsanza said that it is upon the MP to ensure that his people are safe given that he has CDF allocations for development projects wondering if Malulu has in person visited the villages to see the challenges they go through.
