Kisii County Government will construct gabions along the river banks of Daraja Mbili River to protect the bridge from being washed away by flash floods during heavy rains.
Kisii Governor James Ongwae clarified that the initiative is part of his government's storm drainage project at the market meant to secure the market from soil erosion and poor drainage caused by clogging of culverts and surface waterways in the area.
Speaking on Tuesday evening after touring the market to assess the damage caused on Monday evening by flash floods, Ongwae assured the traders that a tender for the storm drainage project had been advertised and works on the same will start soon.
The governor called for tolerance among traders and residents as the county government embarked on modernising the market to ensure traders are operating in secure business environment to avert disasters such as flash floods experienced on Monday evening.
"My government has already tendered for the work of storm drainage in this market and I am calling on the traders and residents in this area to be patient with my government as we embark on implementing the project that will address challenges of drainage facing traders and other residents around this area," stated Ongwae.
However the residents accused the county government of slow pace in addressing drainage challenges and failure to build permanent bridges, saying temporary wooden bridges in the area posed a serious safety threat to the traders and other residents.