Completion of the ongoing Njoro Kubwa Springs Water Project in Taita Taveta County will be a relief to thousands of residents in the water-scarce County.
During an inspection tour of the project, a County Executive Committee delegation led by Water, Sanitation, Climate Change, Environment, and Natural Resources Executive Grantone Mwandawiro called for expedited completion of the remaining work to spare residents further agony from water hardships.
“Good work has been done here and we hope for a quick completion of the remaining works to finally release water to the thirsty residents,” said Mwandawiro.
The mega water project undertaken by Taita Taveta Water and Sewerage Company (TAVEVO) as part of the company’s ten-year plan to make Taita Taveta and the entire coastal region water secure by 2032.
“Njoro Kubwa is part of our ten-year plan to turn around the water situation in the county and the entire coastal region. We want every household, residential, and commercial space to have adequate water for their daily activities,” said Houghton Mombo, board chair of TAVEVO.
Mombo further said they expected to partner with the national government and other non-governmental players in ensuring that water scarcity becomes a thing of the past.
Mombo said the national government-funded Mzima II water project which has the potential to end the perennial water crisis not only in Taita Taveta but also in Mombasa, Kilifi, and Kwale.
“We’re also banking on the national government’s Mzima II water project to not only solve the water problem in Taita Taveta but also in Mombasa, Kilifi, and Kwale,” Mombo said.
On completion, Mzima II has the potential to produce not less than 65,000 cubic metres of water daily and raise the bar from the current daily water output that acutely falls short of the prevailing demand.
Tavevo managing director Richard Ngwatu that said in partnership with the national government and other stakeholders, they were working on increasing water production from the current 15 million to 60 million litres daily.
Part of the strategies to achieve that ambitious milestone according to Ngwatu includes expansion of infrastructure, reducing water loss from 35 percent to 20 percent, and increasing revenue collection from Sh360 million to Sh612 million each year by 2032.
“We’ll employ several strategies to achieve that milestone, key among them being the expansion of infrastructure, cutting down water loss and increasing our annual water bill revenue,” said Ngwatu.
By Arnold Linga Masila
