The County government of Uasin Gishu has been asked to prepare a policy framework that will guide the procurement and distribution of tree seedlings across the county.
This is in what Members of County Assembly (MCA's) say will ensure the success of the county's initiative to increase the forest cover to at least 10 per cent by 2030.
In a motion passed the Assembly on Wednesday, the MCA's lamented that no progress has been made to increase forest cover in the county.
"Despite efforts to allocate millions to support this initiative nothing much has been achieved and this is due to poor distribution and lack of procurement procedure which this motion seeks to address," noted Tulwet/Chuiyat MCA Hillary Mutai while moving the motion.
Langas MCA Francis Muya who seconded the motion warned of dire consequences should the county government fail to put in place measures to address deforestation.
"With this policy in place and fully functional, this county will be guaranteed of remaining the country's food basket unlike the current situation where we are experiencing low rainfall as a result of massive deforestation," said Muya.
The motion received overwhelming support from the Assembly and will now be forwarded to the Department of Environment for consideration and implementation.
"Poor seedlings distribution had cost wastage of public funds as over 70 per cent of them were drying up. We need a policy that will ensure maximum effort is put to have the seedlings survive to maturity," said Assembly's Chief Whip who is also the Ng'enyilel MCA David Sing'oei.
[Uasin Gishu County Assembly at a past session. Photo/Hivisasa.com]