Raila launched secret water collector project Govt

The government has refuted claims by CORD leader, Raila Odinga, that it is constructing a water project that would lead to desertification of various regions.

In a rebuttal, Water Cabinet Secretary, Eugene Wamalwa, said that Raila’s utterances are untruthful adding that the project being undertaken by the government is not secretive.

“What surprised me is that Raila Odinga claims the project is being secretly implemented by the Jubilee administration. I don’t want to accuse him of selective amnesia because I deeply respect him,” said Wamalwa.

He said that the project is part of the Nairobi Water Master Plan that Odinga launched on September 18, 2012.

“The water supplied to Nairobi is 540,000 cubic meters yet what we require is over 700,000 cubic meters. We have about 6 million people in Nairobi every day, and Nairobi doesn’t have its own water.”

“The water sources for Nairobi are external. We need to work on these mega projects such as the northern collector tunnel. The World Bank is a key partner and conducts extensive studies before authorising such a project.”

He said that all the necessary approvals and licenses were obtained for the abstraction of water from Irati, Maragwa and Gikige rivers.

“There is nothing secretive about this project,” said the CS.

“The public was invited and made contributions and we met resistance from some of Murang’a residents who moved to court to stop the project, and succeeded.”

“The case was, however, heard and determined with the issues raised by Raila being canvassed and determined. All these were done openly.”

He noted that the tunnel is well designed adding that there would be no sippage.

Odinga had early Monday claimed that the water project would turn Murang’a, Garissa, Tana River and Ukambani regions into deserts while making Nairobi prone to floods.

The CORD leader called for the suspension of the project to allow public participation and assessment of the environmental impact of the projects.