NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 22 – If you are among the millions of Nairobi residents who suffer from constant water shortage, a water service master plan worth Sh181 billion has been developed to make a water-secure Nairobi a reality.
In the plan, the Athi Water Services Board says that by 2035, Nairobi will require 1.2 billion litres of water daily, hence the necessary development.
Currently, Nairobi’s water capacity is 500,000 cubic litres, but it is supposed to be 700,000 cubic litres. According to the Board’s Chairman Wachira Keen, up to 30 percent of the water that is unaccounted for is lost through leakage.
“The master plan addresses the short, medium and long term development needs for the city and satellite towns to fulfil water demand and further defines a priority strategy to meet Kenya’s current water demands,” said Engineer Malaquen Milgo, CEO of company during a stakeholders meeting.
Another move that’s highlighted in the plan is the intended supplication of more than 60 billion litres of water to the city by 2017.
But, that’s not all.
The board currently has 11 programmes worth Sh50 billion under implementation. An additional eight programs worth about Sh131 billion are under preparation. “All these stem from the Water Master Plan that provides the road map to water security until year 2035,” the engineer said.
The board has also committed Sh1.2 billion – funded provided by the World Bank – towards three water projects in Murang’a County. These include the Murang’a Water Supply, Gatanga Water Supply and Gatango Water supply.
The company has also set out to restore old transmission pipelines and distribution networks, rehabilitate water treatment plants and pump stations. They also plan to create dams and water pans to cure the water deficiencies around the country.
The announcement of the plans come at a time the government and development partners have made efforts to enhance water coverage, sewerage infrastructure, irrigation and dam construction.
According to Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, the government is making progress in areas of improving water access.
“Currently, access in water in Kenya is at 58 percent. However, we still have a lot to do in sanitation where we stand at 22 percent,” Wamalwa said.
Data released by the board on the other hand reveal that on average, 60.4 percent of the population has access to safe water with 91 percent of that figure being the urban areas.
