After stalling more than four years, water hyacinth harvester handed over to LBDA to start operation

Sh.81 million water hyacinth harvester has been officially handed over to the Lake Basin Development Authority by the government.

Also handed over include two Tipas trucks each costing around Sh.10 million.

The machine, procured by Lake Victoria Environment Management Project II and funded by the national government and the World Bank, was stalled immediately it was bought.

It was bought from Italy in 2016 after it was established that the weed can be mechanically removed from the lake.

Technicians cited missing components and mechanical problems for its state of affairs.

However on Friday, the PS Environment and Forestry, Chris Kiptoo, handed over the machine and trucks to the authority, stating that the issues of procurement concerning the machine have finally been sorted out.

"The problem with the machine required  wider consultation because there were contractual issues between the ministry and supplier and we have been able to bring on board the Attorney General, Ministry of Finance to go through this process," he said.

Kiptoo noted that as a ministry of environment, they feel that the issue of managing water hyacinth can best be done by LBDA because it covers more counties.

"As a ministry of environment under LVEMP program we identified Lake Victoria as an important resource and the utilization of the natural resources there have been hampered by the invasive weed, identified in the country in the 90s," Kiptoo said.

He noted that they have undertaken two approaches with the preventive approach where they try to work on pollution control by ensuring that they manage within the catchment areas that their is less pollution in the Lake.

'This has greatly improved because this year we visited the region and took action against persons and companies pollution the lake. I can say that the recreation of hyacinth in the Lake is not high as before," he added.

The second curative measure he mentioned was the use biological control as a long term measure to control the weed by will also have the issue of mechanical harvesting which will be done by the machines.

The State PS State Department of Regional and Northern Corridor Development Margaret Mwakima noted that the water hyacinth has had a devastating effect on Lake Victoria and was happy that the machine will mechanically remove the hyacinth, especially at the Kavirondo Gulf.

Mwakima noted that its now the responsibility of LBDA to ensure that the water hyacinth becomes a history.

"This must take a very integrated approach. We must control the flow of organic waste to manage nutrification, because the weed thrives best on nutrification. We also have to incorporate biological control especially at the floating islands and be able to concentrate at the Kavirondo Gulf," Mwakima said.

She added that they will work closely with NEMA and there are guidelines towards disposal of water hyacinth. 

In 2019, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission was investigating the procurement of the water hyacinth harvester.

The anti-graft agency also sought the minutes of the meetings approving the purchase of the harvester and a copy of the World Bank tender regulation, Act or policy used during the tendering.

Other documents sought include tender opening registers, letter appointing members of opening and ministerial tender committees and letters of appointments forwarding the reports to the World Bank for no objection.

In 2018, a parliamentary select committee said it would summon the Environment CS to explain why the hyacinth harvester stalled.