120 families from Isooni Village, Nguluni Location in Matungulu sub-county have received financial and material boost from Machakos County government.
The households who are victims of a windstorm that struck the village on Friday last week received donations of Shs2.7 million to help them re-construct their houses which were destroyed by the wind.
They received hard cash worth Sh1.2 million and building materials valued at Shs1.5 million to assist in facilitation and renovation respectively of their houses, most of which only their roofs got spoiled by the calamity.
The materials that include 10 iron sheets, 2 bags of cement, 4kgs of nails, roofing timbers and cash of Shs10,000 were issued to each of the affected households by Machakos Governor’s wife Lillian Ng’ang’a on Thursday.
Ng’ang’a said disaster assessment jointly conducted by the Kenya Red Cross, National and Machakos County governments indicated that more than 700 people were directly affected by the incident, all being members of the households that benefited from the donations.
She attributed the windstorm to poor construction of houses stating that majority of the affected structures, which include residential houses, pit latrines and granaries had been poorly put up.
"The structures have been blown by the windstorm because they were poorly constructed, this is because majority of the residents are low income earners and can therefore not afford to construct houses of recommended construction standards. Well constructed structures have not been affected," said Ng’ang’a.
She said that the county government would dispatch to the village a team of construction experts to ensure strong and recommendable building systems as the victims re-construct their affected houses.
Ng’ang’a called on the beneficiaries not to sell the materials and instead utilise them well for the intended purpose to enable them have better shelters for their families and lead normal living standards.
The government through its health, emergency and rescue services department also pinched a tent in the village to offer medical and counselling services to the victims and entire location in extension to enable them deal with trauma.
Ng’ang’a was hosted by Matungulu West MCA Magdalene Ndawa and flanked with officials from both national and county governments including County Executives and six MCAs from the region.