Kenya's central government has just launched a $13 million water and sanitation project in Bomet County in western Kenya. The project, which will benefit three towns, is being financed with a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
New water supply and sanitation facilities will soon be built in Bomet County in Kenya. This is the aim of a project recently launched by the Kenyan central government. It is being implemented by the Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency (LVSWWD), an agency of the Kenyan Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation covering Bomet, Homa Bay, Kericho, Kisii, Kisumu, Migori, Nyamira and Siaya counties.
In Bomet County, the new water and sanitation facilities will benefit 216,850 people, mainly in the towns of Bomet, Longisa and Mulot where work has already started. The project will require an investment of 13 million dollars.
Financing from the World Bank
The project is implemented within the framework of the Sustainable Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Programme in Kenya, whose objective is to improve the reliability of water and sanitation services; raise the overall level of public health in the beneficiary cities; strengthen the operation and maintenance capacity of water service providers; and improve the operating conditions of water and sanitation dependent enterprises.
According to the Kenyan central government, the programme will contribute to improving water and sanitation services in 17 cities. In order to achieve this objective, the programme provides for the construction and rehabilitation of water supply and sanitation facilities, including the extension of the network to informal settlements. It will also build the capacity of water service providers to increase the efficiency of services and provide new employment opportunities for women and youth.
The programme is supported by the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional lending window of the African Development Bank (AfDB), as well as the Middle-Income Countries Technical Assistance Fund (MIC-TAF).
Jean Marie Takouleu
