Kisumu County Commissioner now chairs Koru-Soin Multi-purpose dam implementation team
By Dickson Odhiambo
October 1, 2020
Kisumu County Commissioner now chairs Koru-Soin Multi-purpose dam implementation team
THE new Kisumu County Commissioner will chair the implementation team on Koru-Soin Multi-purpose dam, the Chairman of the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority has said.
The National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority Chairman Erick Okeyo says the Authority has requested the New Kisumu County Commissioner Josephine Ouko to be the chair the implementation team of the multi-purpose dam.
Speaking in Kisumu City today during the a stakeholders meeting, the Authority’s Chairman said it has met various stakeholders that include the National Environmental Management Authority, the National Administration, Water resource Management Authority, National Land Commission, the Lake Victoria South Water works Development Agency among others.
Okeyo says the project of Koru-Soin multi-purpose dam is a national Government project hence the Authority has deemed it fit to request the Kisumu County Commissioner to drive the implementation team.
Okeyo says the team will give a roadmap ahead of the mega ground breaking ceremony which will be there soon.
The Authority’s chairman says the implementation team will inform it accordingly ahead of the ground breaking ceremony.
The Chairman earlier during a meeting with stakeholders in Muhoroni said about shs 2 Billion will be used to compensate the land owners, adding 360 parcels of land will acquired for the project.
He added that 230 of the parcels of land will be affected in Kisumu County while 130 in Kericho county.
Kisumu County Commissioner Josephine Ouko says the tender award is going to be done before Monday next week hence implementation will start immediately.
“We will start the implementation immediately after the contractor comes at the ground. We will also not delay any further because since 1958 we have been waiting for the project to kick off,” Ouko says.
She says the implementation team for the project will start its first engagement next week on October 6 and will mobilize and start the implementation works upon contractor’s arrival at the site.
The Kisumu County Commissioner says the project’s life will take between two to three years.
The proposed Soin-Koru Dam is a vision 2030 flagship project which is located in Kisumu and Kericho counties along River Nyando approximately 5 kilometers upstream of Muhoroni town and River Nyando is one of the seven major rivers within the Lake Victoria Basin originating from the upper highland areas and flows into the Lake Victoria.
The Soin-Koru Dam started in 1982 by Italian Government and taken over by the NWCPC in 2009.
The Project’s components include Rockfill dam of 54 meters height, storage capacity of 93.7MM cubic, water treatment works of 71.279 Meters cubic per day.
Others include trunk distribution pipelines of diameters 1200-150 millimeters and of total length of 122.54 kilometers as well as 12 number storage tanks of total capacity of 23.400 meters.
One of the major benefits of the project will be to control the perennial floods caused by the river Nyando over-topping its banks thereby affecting a section of residents in Kisumu County especially in Nyando, Muhoroni and Nyakach constituencies.
Flooding within lower reaches of Kano plains displaces more than 5,000 people yearly costing about shs 50 million due to damages and further shs 30 million for rehabilitation measures.
Another benefit is water supply for domestic, commercial {Irrigation} and institutional use as all the residents near the dam site and downstream of the dam site will be served with water to supplement the existing facilities where areas like Kisumu City and the emerging towns of Ahero, Chemelil, Miwani, Muhoroni, Koru, Awasi, Koitaburot, Katito, Masogo and Ombeyi will be major beneficiaries as a result of this project.
The other benefits include increased area under irrigation schemes in and around Ahero and West Kano Irrigation schemes from 1,800 hectares to 5,370 and also power generation of approximately 2.5 megawatts which will be used to pump water to higher areas while excess power sold to Kenya Power as this will translate to cheaper water and additional income for the two counties.
ENDS:
.jpg)
How will the locals benefit in terms of the employment.
ReplyDeleteWe are not against the dam,but as residents we must know as a matter of urgency the terms of compensation!!
ReplyDeleteWe must also be compensated before works commence so as to give us ample time to relocate.
Finally ,apart from employment what social amenities do we hope to see.(this should be clearly stated at the onset of work to avoid shifting of goal posts a common phenomenon in kenya!!