At least 200,000 residents of Kericho town will not worry about water anymore following the completion of Sh 1 billion Kimugu water supply project expected to produce at least 13 million litres of clean water on a daily basis.
The Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Mr. Maalim Mohamed who visited the project was elated that despite the delay in completion of the project, it was now a sigh of relief as the project was now ready for commissioning and by end of this month of July the acute water shortage in Kericho will be a thing of the past.
“The project being one of the key flagships of the President under food and nutrition in the big four agenda is expected to resolve the acute water shortage in Kericho by supplying 13 million litres a day up from 8.8 million litres a day.” Said Mr. Maalim.
Mr. Maalim noted that River Kimugu had its source in the Mau Forest and called for concerted efforts in conservation and protection of the Mau as the main water tower adding that more trees would be planted to protect the water source from drying up due to wanton destruction of the forest.
“The government is committed to protect the Mau Forest as the main water tower and I call upon the public not to destroy our forests. Let us sustainably utilize our natural resources and also conserve for future generations,” added the Regional Commissioner.
The RC intimated that already the piping had been laid for distribution of the water to residents stressing that uninterrupted supply of clean water is one of the basic infrastructures for any development to be realized since investors will find a comfortable environment to invest.
“Once residents have clean water, definitely even some health challenges will be resolved and for farmers within Kericho, it will be possible to even irrigate their farm and so water contributes a lot in food security as well as universal healthcare” added Mr. Maalim.
The Ministry of Water and Sanitation in conjunction with the Development Bank of Germany and Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency funded the Kimugu Water Supply Project.
Meanwhile the Regional Commissioner accompanied by Regional Security Committee, the Kericho County commissioner Mr. Kamau Karungo and the Presidential Delivery Unit, inspected the construction of the Kericho Interchange project where he urged the engineers on site to oversee the project to come to its completion as soon as possible to allow smooth flow of traffic in and out of Kericho town.
Mr. Maalim appreciated the contractors who delivered on the projects saying that out of the 46 national government projects in Kericho, 35 projects had been successfully completed.
“You should immediately increase the equipment and personnel on the ground and revise the work programme to include accelerated strategies geared towards finishing up the project within the given timelines” he said.
By Kibe Mburu and Dominic Cheres
