Principal Secretary, state department for water Fred Segor. [Photo|The Star]
Water Principal Secretary Fred Segor says that the first lot of Sh2.7 billion Baricho water project will be completed in December.
The PS recently took a tour in Kilifi County to assess the status of the project.
“The first lot which included the sinking of new wells and the setting up of water treatment facilities at Baricho waterworks at a tune of Sh570 million was behind schedule but had been assured by the contractor that it will be completed by December,” said the PS.
During the tour, the PS was accompanied by Coast Water Services Board CEO Jacob Torutt, CWSB acting Chairperson Sureya Hersi and other senior ministry officials said lot three of the project is expected to be completed by December next year.
“Lot one of the project, that is the extraction of water from the Baricho wells is currently behind schedule. It was to be completed in July but due to some unavoidable circumstances, it failed to meet the intended deadline. The contractor has affirmed us that it will be complete by December this year.” Said Segor.
Once completed, the project which will cover 93 kilometres for both Malindi and Kilifi will assist more than 200,000 people who will have direct access to clean water by the year 2030.
The PS said that once completed, it will increase water supply to a tune of 22,000 cubic meters a day thus increasing the volume of water that was being pumped to Mombasa and Malindi using the old pipeline.
“The initial waterline which was meant to serve Kilifi and Malindi towns will be dedicated to directly serve Mombasa. We shall do that in a bid to enhance water supply to the city which is currently grappling with a huge population. That means that we shall be pumping a daily uptake of 50,000 cubic meters of water to Mombasa,” he said.
The Ps, however, asked the county governments to improve the distribution of water to their residents.
The PS assured of the national government, saying that it is the government's duty to make sure that there is water in the main water. However, he called on the county governments through their various water providers to make sure that water is available to the communities.