Residents of Oyani in South Kanyamkago Ward-Uriri Sub County have called upon the national and county governments to listen to their pleas and rectify water backflow from the Migori-Kuria-Transmara (MIKUTRA) water treatment plant and supply.
Speaking at the MIKUTRA water supply and treatment plant, the residents’ representative Alfred Mdeizi, said that the 2012 established water supply, which was meant to supply water to Migori-Kuria and Transmara towns, has been channelling water to their agricultural lands, rendering them unusable for farm activities.
Already, 44 households have been affected by the water backflow from the water plant with 42.37 acres of land partially submerged, rendering them waterlogged and unproductive for agricultural use.
Dr Mdeizi said that the MIKUTRA water project funded by the Africa Development Bank and implemented by Lake Victoria Water Services Agency did not involve the community in any public participation despite the community advocating for the same before project implementation in 2012.
“When this project was being implemented, we advocated for community inclusion on key decisions but our pleas were ignored. 12 years later we are crying for justice that keeps evading us,” lamented Mdeizi.
He said that if public participation was done and migration measures established the damages could have been evaded.
Although the community went to court during the implementation phase in 2012, the court in Kisii refused to stop the process on the condition that the involved community is fully involved in planning, designing and the mitigation measures.
Dr Mdeizi however, disclosed that the implementers of the Project-Lake Victoria Water Service Agency never complied with the court directive.
The representative said that the treatment plant inflow damages have been causing the back flow of water during rainy season that keeps blocking designated access routes leading to farm floods.
He added that the treatment plant pipes taking water to the treatment plant were made of concrete that have continuously been leaking throughout the years making the nearby farms waterlogged.
Mdeizi also disclosed that despite seeking solutions from the local administration, resolutions were made to the project implementers to share with the community the project design and mitigation measures but so far nothing has been forthcoming.
The resolution also advocated for a proposal to redesign and replace concrete pipes that having been leaking with plastic once.
Already the residents have filed 44 cases in the Land and Environment Court at the Migori Law Courts but according to Mdeizi, they are willing to settle the matter out of court if the implementers are willing to engage with them
Peter Madegwa, a resident whose one acre has been completely submerged with water flow from the water plant said that there is nothing much he can do because the farm has been rendered useless.
Paul Owiti who owns a three-acre piece of land adjacent to the water plant explained that the water back flow has waterlogged one of his farms making it impossible to plant crops on the affected piece of land.
The inflow of the water plant has diverted its route creating a river on Owiti farm and destroying the already planted crops.
“I don’t know what will happen in the next five years if this water is not rectified. I may end up losing my land to a river that was created by the implementers of the project,” decried Owiti.
By Geoffrey Makokha
