[Mining PS Dr Ibrahim Mohamed during a past press address. He has said majority of Garissa residents are pastoralists and would like a disease free zone.](Nation.)

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Garissa residents want more funds allocated to livestock development, value addition for their products and flood control along the River Tana, mining PS Dr Ibrahim Mohamed has said.

Mohamed, addressing journalists on Saturday in Garissa, said majority of Garissa residents are pastoralists and would like a disease free zone.

“Promoting value additional in a disease-free zone is their ultimate aim. Herders would like to see their meat, milk, hides and skin among other products being processed locally. There is a lot of milk and meat that go to waste,” he said.

Mohamed said construction of modern abattoirs will help stop wastage of meat, create jobs and grow the economy.

He added that many herders who lost their animals due to a prolonged drought are now facing dilemma of floods after they ventured into irrigation farming and floods from upstream of the River Tana could destroy their crops.

“We want to adopt mitigation measures that will lessen losses brought about by floods. We will liaise with the Irrigation and Environment ministries on how best to address these concerns so that farmers don’t suffer huge losses during floods,” Mohamed said.

He added; “Residents want early warning systems enhanced so that floodwaters can be stored in dams and released at the appropriate time, and used during dry spells.”