• Country's newest pipeline never had safety audit. Company plans to instal costly electronic leakage detectors.
• Senate energy committee accuses KPC of negligence, says it has does little or noting to help people of Makuei get clean water.
KPC can't explain the leakage it the new Mombasa – Nairobi pipeline, 75 days after the oil spill was detected in Makindu subcounty.
MPs also heard on Wednesday that buying and installing electronic leakage detectors will be costly.
The volume of the spill has not been disclosed.
It also emerged that the country’s newest pipeline, costing Sh48 billion, had been operating without safety audit report months since it was launched.
We have not heard you – KPC – telling us what caused the leakage. It should not happen on a new pipeline like this. What action have you taken against engineers who signed that all was well with the new line?Senate Energy committee chairman Ephraim Maina
The spill from the pipeline launched last year was detected on March 30 after oil was found in the Kiboko River, the main source of water for thousands of Makueni residents living downstream.
Appearing before the Senate’s Energy Committee on Wednesday, Petroleum and Mining CS John Munyes and KPC acting director Hudson Andambi could not explain the leak in the ultra-modern pipeline.
“We have not heard you – KPC – telling us what caused the leakage. The leak should not happen on a new pipeline like this. What action have you taken against engineers who signed that all was well with the new line?” committee chairman Ephraim Maina from Nyeri asked.
Munyes told the committee that KPC is procuring an electronic detector which will help detect any weak areas along the 450-km line to allow for corrective measures and avoid a repeat of the Kiboko incident.
“I apologise to the people of Makueni on behalf of the company. We are procuring a system for leak detection, we want to ensure that we get it right,” Munyes said.
Senators Mutula Kilonzo (Makueni), Samson Cherargei (Nandi) and Ledama Olekina (Narok ) accused KPC of negligence and doing little to help the people of Makueni.
The said the river Kiboko was poisoned by the spell and the company had not helped provide clean water.
“I am personally very upset by KPC. The oil spillage did not happen in March, it happened last year immediately after the launch,” Kilozo said.
Rifts between the Petroleum ministry and Nema on one side and ministry of Water played out during the afternoon sitting after the two sides presented conflicting reports on the safety of water in River Kiboko following the spill.
The Water ministry said the water is unsafe for both human and livestock consumption, Nema and Petroleum ministry said their testing indicates there was no contamination.