The government has caved in to pressure and agreed to hold fresh engagement with stakeholders over the planned construction of the multi-billion Malewa Dam in Nyandarua. The Ministry of Water will now meet flower farmers, water users in the lower and upper catchment and experts over the controversial dam that has continued to generate more heat than light.
In the last couple of years, flower farmers and experts have warned that the planned dam could lead to the death of Lake Naivasha and the collapse of the horticulture sector but according to Water CS Sicily Kariuki, the consultation would involve stakeholders in the water source and the end users in a bid to reach a compromise. Kariuki was however quick to note that the dam was the long-term solution to the water crisis in Naivasha, Gilgil and parts of Nakuru town.
“We shall be seeking fresh public participation on this dam that has a lot of interest and has raised a lot of concern from various stakeholders,” she said. The CS noted that plans were underway to construct two more dams in Nyandarua so as to address the water needs for residents of the county. “Designs for Pesi and Kinja dams are already out and we have partners who are willing to fund these projects in the coming year,” she said.
The CS was speaking in Naivasha after inspecting works on the ongoing construction of a pipeline to supply water to the Industrial Park in Mai Mahiu which has attracted tens of investors. She noted that the pipeline was ready adding that the five boreholes in Naivasha would be pumping over 6,000 cubic meters of water to the park every day.
“In the next 21 days five water kiosks will be constructed along the pipeline to assist communities along the line,” she said, adding that residents of Naivasha, Longonot and Mai Mahiu where the pipeline passed through would benefit from the water.
Last month, the Dutch Embassy in Kenya proposed to fund a scientific study on the effects of Malewa dam to Lake Naivasha and the communities downstream. This emerged when Dutch Ambassador to Kenya Maarten Brouwer met various environmentalists, county and national officials differently to seek the way forward.
During the meetings, it emerged that there was a need to supply the three towns with chloride free water but not at the expense of the lake that is the mainstay of the flower farms.