State allocates Sh60 million to Murang'a irrigation project

 

The government has set aside Sh60 million to complete an irrigation project that stalled 15 years ago in Mathioya constituency.

The Kandabibi Gikindu project was started by 100 members of the public who eventually ran into financial challenges and the project stopped.

 But the government through the intervention of MP Peter Kimari has revived the project and expanded it to cover about 1,000 homes.

The project will draw water from Mathioya River and be completed in one year.

The government will provide over 30km of pipeline to supply the water into homes through the National Irrigation Authority.

The project will fulfill the dream of residents of having access to water while boosting their agricultural activities.

“We want this water to get into every home in the area regardless of whether they were part of the project before or not,” the MP said.

In the neighbouring Kamagoko area, the government is implementing a Sh38 million domestic water project.

At the same time, the government is in the process of implementing Gatango water project that will supply Mathioya and parts of Kiharu constituencies.

Installation of an 8.6km pipeline from the Kairo intake along Mathioya River to Kairo storage tank has been completed and tested.

A sedimentation tank constructed at the edge of the Aberdares forest is also complete.

About 2,000 litres that will be processed through the tank will be supplied to Gaturi residents in Kiharu while the rest will be channeled to Kamacharia and Kiru areas, serving over 60,000 people.

Athi Water Works Development Agency director Peter Kihungi said the President’s pledge to have Murang’a people connected to clean water during the 2017 campaigns is coming to pass.

“The President promised to bring to an end the challenges of lack of water in the county and it is being done,” he said.

Kihungi asked locals to use the water projects to uplift their lives through commercial farming.

Senator Irungu Kang’ata lauded the government for implementing numerous development projects across the county.

Kang’ata said Murang’a leaders proposed projects worth Sh3 billion when they met a delegation of government officials led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and that their implementation has taken off.

“We want the people of Murang’a to have access to both drinking and irrigation water. We cannot continue giving water to Nairobi county while our people suffer from lack of it,” the senator said.