The government has recently launched two drinking water projects in Kenya, in Suba Sud and at Got Kabok Public School. The total cost of these projects is estimated at nearly $791,000. They will provide drinking water to more than 12,000 Kenyan citizens. The work was launched on November 20, 2019 by Joseph Irungu, the Principal Secretary in charge of Water.
Water has recently become a scarce commodity in Homa Bay (located northeast of Lake Victoria) and Suba South counties. Students and women in these communities are paying the price. Every day, they have to travel about ten kilometres to get water from the shores of Lake Victoria. “There are many women who suffer hard pregnancies because they spend a lot of time walking in search of water. Some people leave home at dawn and return at dusk completely exhausted,” Wanga Gladys, the spokeswoman for Homa Bay women, told the local press.
The authorities have just launched a water supply project at a local school. In total, the Kenyan government has invested 80.8 million shillings, the equivalent of $791,000, to finance the implementation of two drinking water projects. Got Kabok Public School in Suba Sud will be one of the beneficiaries of the project, which will cost 70.8 million shillings ($692,000). Once implemented, 1800 m³ of water will be produced each day, providing drinking water to nearly 12,000 people.
Currently, the water supply in Homa Bay County serves barely half of the city’s population. Similarly, 36% of consumers have a meter and the rate of access to running water is only 20%. In addition, the water coming out of the pipes is often of poor quality due to the dilapidated state of the filtering system and malfunctions in the water treatment.
All these projects are undertaken by the Kenyan Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Sanitation and implemented by the Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency.
Luchelle Feukeng
