The Patel Family, which owned the dam in Solai, Nakuru, that burst killing 48 people has family come out to declare their support and commitment to rebuild the community affected by the tragedy.
Consoling bereaved family members, Solai Group Chairman, Mansukh Patel, promised to provide all support to victims after losing their near and dear ones in the May 9 mishap.
The family says it continues to address immediate humanitarian concerns, providing food and nutrition, clean drinking water, healthcare and basic household essentials as investigations continue concerning the dam.
According to a statement issued through a PR agency, the family says preliminary investigations point to heavy rainfall in Dundori forest resulting in the massive soil erosion with high pressure water accompanied by dead stumps and logs and big boulders that hit the wall of the Dam causing a huge gush of water into the farm and outlying settlements.
‘’In the recent week, our community has been affected by this tragedy, we can’t change the tragic loss but together, we can ease the pain and prevent further loss, the children are greatly affected so are the families who have been left behind to deal with the tragedy, the Patel family offers their deepest and most heartfelt sympathy to the Solai community and to all the families and friends of those who died,” said Patel.
The Patel family adds it has adopted a multi-pronged approach of rescue, relief and rehabilitation, extending services, including but not limited to funeral expenses, medical expenses and a trauma intervention programme.
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‘’Our next step is to develop a sustainable rehabilitation system for the community in which we intend to rebuild all the destroyed houses – within a month, provide basic household needs, restart farm operations since most of the affected are farm workers and need to get back to earning their livelihood. We shall also Mitigate any other needs/requests that come from the community,’’ assured Patel.
Patel expressed his commitment to work together with the relevant governmental and county authorities to rebuild what has been lost. ‘’We appreciate the President’s encouragement and the grace with which the government and Non-Governmental Organisations have handled the situation,’’ he added.
The statement said the family’s rehabilitation plan compliments President Uhuru Kenyatta’s announcement at the Solai memorial service on Wednesday that government will rebuild schools and roads and provide water and all pending title deeds.
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Until now, the family has been speaking though the farm manager amid calls for Patel’s arrest after the Water Management Corporations said the dams on the farm were not licenced, something the family disputed, saying the burst dam was build more than 20 years ago.
