A 70-metre long dredging machine has arrived in Kisumu city from Uganda through Lake Victoria.
The machine which was procured by Lake Region Economic Bloc in conjunction with the county government of Kisumu and the national government through a partnership with Uganda based Mango Tree Group, is to be used clear the water hyacinth that has covered a large part of the lake affecting transport and fishing activities within the lake.
According to Engineer Javan Wanga who is in charge of Inland Water Ways, the dredger is to be used to dredge the harbour, a process he gave an estimated duration of three months.
The residents of the county have expressed their delight with the arrival of the ship citing the challenges they have been going through among them harboured fishing activities due to difficulty in navigating the waters.
This has been so becase a large section of the community living around the lake and Nyanza region at large heavily depend on fishing activities as a source of income and food as well.
The exercise of removing the weed which is part of a bigger initiative to revive the port of Kisumu is set to kick off tomorrow in the presence of the AU's special envoy for infrastructural development Raila Odinga, Kisumu county officials among other leaders whose presence is yet to be confirmed.
Raila recently had a meeting with delagates from Lake Region Economic Bloc and Uganda concerning revival of Kisumu port whose progress can be indicated by the arrival of the machine.