Being one of the old town the leadership is faced with challenge to distribute the available resource
The Mountain Journal
Nanyuki town, despite being located at the foot of Mt Kenya, faces
a serious water deficit following increased population and development
activities.
In
the past three years, the number of water bowsers has been on rise due to the
increased demand for the commodity sourced from an intake that was designed in
the 1950’s to serve a few British settlers.
Nanyuki
Water and Sewerage Company (Nawasco), with a mandate to supply the residents
with the water, has faced challenges in distribution of water to the customers,
some in settlements in the counties of Nyeri and Meru.
Photo/ Nawasco leaders in one of the water and sanitation infrastructure in Nanyuki town
The
strategy to end the shortage initiated by the Laikipia County Government
received a boost after the American Government injected Sh130 million
to the Nanyuki Bulk Supply Water Programme.
Photo/One of the modern water tanker on sale
According
to Nawasco Managing Director Kennedy Gitonga, the facilitation by
USAID will cater for geotechnical investigation, environment and Social
Impact (ESIA) and stakeholder engagement.
The
funding will also cater for the construction of a reservoir across the Likii
Central River, expand water treatment plant and put-up additional storage
tanks and establish more distribution networks.
“The
project will turn around the rural economy of the area with organised
small-scale farmers to benefit with water for irrigation in Mukima, Jua Kali,
Njogu ini, Nturukuma and Sweet Waters,” said Eng Gitonga.
County
Government of Environment and Water Peter Ole Matunge said the process of
establishing the Nanyuki Bulk Water Supply project started 11 years ago,
through feasibility programmes.
The
CEC said the engineering dam design will enable the county to adopt the Public
Private Partnership (PPP) model of financing the Nanyuki Bulk Water Supply
project.
“
A team that will be in charge of the project will proceed to Rwanda for a
three day benchmarking through an exchange programme under Wash-Fin Fund,” said
the CEC.
The
County government has received approval from Kenya Forest Service (KFS) board
to carry out geotechnical investigation and the environmental and social impact
assessment (ESIA) in Mt Kenya Forest.
The
project targets to supply a population of 223,000 households with water in
areas around Nanyuki town and its environs through an additional 45,969 cubic
meters.
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