Excavation works for desilting of Ndukuma Dam in Muvau Ward, Makueni Constituency, has started.
The works include clearing vegetation, 5-meter deep excavation of the dam basin to remove silt accumulated over decades and raising the embankment by 0.5metres to increase the capacity of the dam.
Once the 58-acre dam is refurbished, it will serve more than 19 villages in the area. The work is being carried out by Makueni County Engineers led by CEC for Water Eng. Kasyoki Kieti and our county machine operators and technicians.
The county has committed a total of Kshs 50 million for this first phase.
H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior has commended the progress made in Thwake Dam construction, which stands at 74 percent to date.
During a tour of the project site in the company of County Commissioner Beverly Opwora on Tuesday, Governor Mutula Jnr expressed confidence that Phase One of the project will be ready for commissioning next year as envisioned by the national Ministry of Water and Irrigation.
H.E Mutula Jnr termed the project as one of the answers to the perpetual water and food stress bedeviling Makueni County. He said the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has given him its commitment for supply of water to Kalawa Ward and Wote town.
The governor also challenged the national government to start planning for the next phases of the project, which include a 20MW hydropower plant, water supply and sanitation as well as the irrigation component.
To ensure skills transfer, the governor put up a request to the contractor for capacity building of the county government’s water personnel in mega water dams construction to scale up their prowess.
Kalawa ward is arguably one of the driest parts of Makueni county, perpetually battling water scarcities.
On a normal day, residents have to trek a considerable distance to fetch water from points that the county government has continued to develop across the expansive ward.
A partnership between the county government and World Vision is however projected to change the above scenario and make the ward one of the water secure wards in the county.
The two institutions are co-funding a project dubbed Athi-Kalawa Sanitation Project meant to distribute water to 80 % of the ward area.
The project involves pumping water from Athi River to Wii hills, construction of a treatment plant, construction of a 500 cubic meters reservoir and three distribution lines (Kalawa, Miangeni and Syotuvali) for communal water circulation.
World Vision national director Lilian Dodzo who paid a courtesy call to governor Kivutha Kibwana on Tuesday, to discuss the project progress, said the project purposes to cut the distance to the nearest water point from households to a maximum of 500 meters.
According to County Executive Committee member for Water and Sanitation Rosemary Maundu, the project is 30 percent done and phase 1 must be complete before end of the year 2020.
Over 500 Residents of Kaunguni – Muuni Sub- Ward in Nguumo Ward have unanimously prioritized and proposed a mega Water project in a bid to enhance agricultural and livestock productivity for improved livelihoods in their area.
In a public participation forum on Thursday presided by Makueni Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau and attended by Gender and Trade Executives Godfrey Makau and Sebastian Kyoni respectively and a section of Makueni County Assembly members led by MCA Alfred Mutuku, the residents identified water scarcity as the major challenge.
They said if the right interventions are put in place then the problem would be resolved and water network widened to reach many who lack access today.
Further they lauded the department of health services as the best performing in the county for implementation of the universal health care that has seen the county citizenry access medical services at no cost.
“The department of health is leading in the county because we are being treated for free in our facilities. We urge the other department to step so that we can grow together in every sector in our county, ” said Mutua Masai, a representative from Kaunguni-East cluster.
The DG said: “Like I have said in other forums, we are focusing on mega projects that can impact a larger population. This is what we are calling the paradigm shift.”
Governor Kivutha Kibwana on Monday commissioned two water projects in his bid to curb the perennial water scarcity in the county.
A 52,472 cubic metres Kimundi earth dam which serves a population of 7000 Kithuki/Kitise residents was the first to be commissioned followed by the Kikumini borehole with a yielding capacity of 9.5 cubic metres per hour.
The Kikumini bore hole is scheduled to supply water to Kikumini dispensary, Makueni CTTI and Kikumini market targeting a population of about 3000 residents.
Speaking to residents while commissioning the projects, governor Kibwana emphasized on cost effective and people centered development.
Kibwana commended the good work by project management committees across the county for supervising delivery of quality workmanship by contractors.
Cabinet Secretary for Water and Sanitation Simon Chelugui now says the government is ready for the ground breaking for construction of Thwake dam.
During a consultative leaders” meeting on implementation of Thwake dam project held at Ole Sereni hotel, Nairobi, Tuesday, Chelugui said, “We have established working relations among all the stakeholders and are ready for ground breaking any time from now.”
The Cabinet Secretary said all the pending issues standing in the way of the project’s launch are being cleared to pave way for commencement of construction works.
One of the thorny challenges is compensation of a section of Project Affected Persons, which Chelugui says will be cleared in the next three weeks.
The meeting was attended by leaders from Makueni, Kitui, Machakos, representatives of those affected by the project, top leardership of the Water and Sanitation ministry as well as the contractor and and engineering consultants.
Governor Kibwana said leaders from the three counties have resolved to sensitise locals to fully accept and own the project and also to take advantage of the available job opportunities, including subcontracts.
According to the project engineer Sao Alima, Sh 11 Billion will be spend on subcontracts, which he said will benefit locals.
Makueni and Kitui will also benefit from Sh 30 million for schools improvement and Sh 50 million for community health facilities as part of the contractor’s Corporate Social Responsibility around the project area.
