The mechanical removal of water hyacinth in Lake Victoria is expected to start soon as the government prepares to launch the harvester machine in Kisumu.
The water hyacinth harvester will on Friday be handed over to the Lake Basin Development Authority by the Ministry of Environment.
LBDA managing director Raymond Omollo on Saturday said the machine will enable the authority to remove water hyacinth mechanically..
Two trucks for ferrying the removed weed will also be commissioned.
The machine is currently in the custody of the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project.
“The removal of the hyacinth will cover the entire terrain of the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria. It will cover Migori, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Busia and Siaya counties,” Omollo said.
Environment PS Chris Kiptoo and Regional and Northern Corridor Development counterpart Margaret Mwakima will preside over the event.
The harvester will be a sigh of relief to fishermen as they have been worst hit by the weed.
They have mostly been trapped in the hyacinth.
“We have cases where fishermen have been trapped and some even lost their lives,” Omollo said.
The authority boss said hyacinth has affected the livelihood of the fishermen, the ecosystem of the lake, and marine transport.
“We are soon embarking on mechanical removal of the weed,” he said.
The hyacinth, he said, can be utilised as fertiliser, to produce energy in the form of briskets and making of furniture.
He, however, noted the need for proper management of the removed weed to avoid further spread.
“If we are removing it and we don’t manage it effectively, then the seeds can be washed back into the lake when it rains. This means we will basically doing nothing,” Omollo said.
He called for proper ways to stop the excessive growth of the weed in the lake by addressing cases of pollution.
“We have to look into issues of catchment conservation in terms of water is coming into the lake and how to deal with the state of the lake as it is today,” Omollo said.
He called for collaboration among the National Environmental Management Authority, Water Resources Management Authority, Kenya Marine, and the business community in conserving the lake.
In achieving the objective, Omollo said, a multi-agency approach to get the most economic benefit from the removal of water hyacinth must be in place.
Already, the rehabilitation of Sh3 billion Kisumu port is almost complete. The Sh3.8 billion rehabilitation of the Nakuru-Kisumu railway line project is on course.
The two projects are expected to boost business in the region as well as regional trade.
The newly refurbished MV Uhuru ship has made 17 trips of 17,000 litres of fuel to Port Belt and Jinja.
The Sh76 million machine, procured by LVEMP and funded by the national government and the World Bank, stalled immediately it was bought from Italy in 2016.
Technicians cited missing components and mechanical problems.
It has thus been idle at the Kisumu inland port.
Edited by EKibii
