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Elder Lister
In many instances, emergency and disaster response in this country is hampered by logistical challenges. One such example that comes to mind would include the Garissa university massacre, where the security apparatus took long to respond, most likely due to logistical challenges. Emergency logistics in this country relies heavily on a handful of helicopters. Unfortunately, these machines are limited by their number, capacity, and speed. In addition, they are prohibitively expensive to acquire, run, and maintain. On the other hand, the country has numerous airplanes, which offer better capacity, speed, and cost rationale. However, airplanes need dedicated airstrips for landing, and these cannot be constructed in every location. That said, airplanes can still be used in disaster response by making use of the already existing road infrastructure. All that is needed is to carefully identify suitable sections of roads that can serve as landing strips. If such sections are carefully catalogued, it would be easy to land aircraft on such roads with a little cooperation with people on the ground. A little more investment could see the sections specially marked for safer use, obstacles cleared from the vicinity, and some adjacent area leveled out to permit for more demanding logistical tasks. With such designated areas, helicopters, vehicles, and boda bodas would only be used to cover the last mile if need be.
Image: Photo of a plane that landed on a Ugandan highway
Image: Photo of a plane that landed on a Ugandan highway