• The project mainly focuses on towns that are developing at a high rate and have seen numerous industries set up.
• The project is 40 per cent done and the plan is to have it complete by March next year.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
The Ministry of Water has embarked on a Sh1.2 billion project that will supply water to over 16,000 people in Murang’a.
The Kenol Makutano project will draw water from Kinyona intake in Kigumo and will supply it to Kangari and Kenol towns and their environs.
It will also provide a sewerage system for the fast-growing Kenol town that has poor drainage.
Murang’a South Water and Sewerage Company managing director Mary Nyaga has said the firm covers Kandara, Maragua and Kigumo that have poor water connectivity.
This has prompted the government to invest heavily in the areas to ensure residents are provided with clean drinking water, she said.
The project mainly focuses on towns that are developing at a high rate and have seen numerous industries set up.
“These industries cannot operate without water and will also bring about an influx of people who will require the commodity for their domestic needs,” she said.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
The project is 40 per cent done and the plan is to have it complete by March next year.
She said the project however faces the challenge of the destruction of old water pipes that disrupts supply.
“The new pipeline is following the route of an old pipeline and the water company is working with the Athi Water Works Development agency and the contractor to ensure the destroyed pipes are reinstated immediately,” Nyaga said.
Many residents have also encroached on road reserves, which are mainly used for the establishment of pipelines, forcing the company to engage stakeholders to determine the extent of the road reserves.
This, in turn, drags the implementation of the project.
“Where the road reserves are narrow, we have to negotiate with farm owners to allow pipes to pass through,” she said.
Nyaga said most people in the three areas do not have a reliable supply, with hospital reports indicating that many suffer from waterborne diseases.
“With clean water and proper sewerage that will be provided through the project, the health status of residents will be improved, reducing the burden on hospital and ensure residents are more productive economically,” she said.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
The company’s technical manager John Macharia said from the intake, the water will go through Kinyona treatment plant, after which the main pipeline of the 355mm-diameter pipeline will channel it to homes.
Julius Mwaura, a Kangari resident said the town has no supply of clean water and has to rely on vendors who draw water from the nearby Gatabua river.
“The river takes effluent from the town and could be contaminated, it is by God’s grace that we have never had outbreaks of waterborne diseases like cholera in this town,” he said.
In 2015, two people died and over 500 people were treated at Nguthuru dispensary in Kandara following a cholera outbreak.
In 2018, five people died and 46 people were admitted to hospitals after a cholera outbreak hit the Nyaga area of Gatanga.
The outbreak was said to have emanated from the Gathwariga river after a contractor working on Kiunyu-Nyaga road destroyed water pipes.
Last year, three Murang’a town residents were admitted to Murang’a Level 5 Hospital after exhibiting cholera-like symptoms.
Mwaura who works in the MP’s office said they are partnering with the water firm in the mapping of all villages without water or with dilapidated pipelines to establish the kilometres of pipeline required.
So far, mapping has been done in Kangari and Mariira locations which require 69.7km.
“Muswasco has agreed to have the piped delivered by November this year,” he said.
Kangari, a rural town that depends heavily on tea, is densely populated and the population may continue to rise with industrialisation and numerous government projects.
The town is in the process of being gazetted as a municipality.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris