A water program funded by the World Bank (WB) in Kilifi County is expected to ease water scarcity that has characterized the lives of the locals in Magarini, Malindi, and Ganze sub-counties. – By Ramadhan Kambi
Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi said in Jilore that he recently went to sign the agreement in Nairobi and soon work on the water projects will commence.
“We have a project implemented by the WB through the Malindi Water and Sewerage Company (MAWASCO). I went to sign the agreement and contracts have already been advertised. Soon we shall have a contractor on-site,” said Governor Kingi.
According to the Governor, the contractor will repair the old pipelines and also lay new pipes that will be able to pump enough water to Malindi and its environs.
“This project will cost more than Sh1bn. The first project will be done at a cost of Sh700 million which will focus on pumping water to Malindi. Then we shall have another Sh250 million project that will pump water to Watamu and some parts of Magarini,” said the Governor.
Mr. Kingi said that once these projects are completed, the water problem will not be felt anymore in Malindi and its environs.
A similar water projects are also being undertaken in Mtwapa and the Governor said the main agenda is to make sure that there is enough availability of water to its residents.
“In Mtwapa for example and through the same program, we have advertised tenders for the similar water projects to a tune of Sh1bn. Once these projects are completed then the water problem shall be reduced by a big margin,” he said.
Apart from the World Bank water project, the county has embarked on underground water exploration.
According to the County water and natural resource executive Kiringi Mwachitu, the devolved government is focusing on four thematic areas of addressing water shortage.
In its strategic plan devolved government aims to sink over 100 boreholes across the county but with much focus on regions prone to long dry spells such as Ganze, Magarini, Kaloleni Sub counties. Some parts of Rabai Sub-county will benefit from this program.
“In Kilifi we have areas of Ganze, Kaloleni and Magarini, which have experienced water challenges. We have then as a department, decided to use three alternative ways of addressing this.
The first way is by expanding our piped water to the communities. For those whom it will take time before we connect them to piped water, the first thing we have done is to sink boreholes for them as we strive to give them piped water later. In areas where feasibility study has revealed that sinking borehole is not viable, we have embarked on constructing water pans,” said Mr. Mwachitu.
