State promises to help families displaced by swollen Rift Valley lakes

 

The government has promised to help families displaced by swollen lakes Nakuru and Naivasha.

Environment PS Chris Kiptoo said the government is looking for short and long-term solutions to ensure the affected residents rebuild their lives.

“A multi-agency task force constituted at the national level has  seven weeks to compile a detailed report on the underlying causes of the rising water levels in Rift Valley lakes,” Kiptoo said.

He spoke when he toured Barut and Mwariki in Nakuru West subcounty.  The PS is on a tour of lakes in the Rift Valley - Elementaita, Bogoria, Baringo, Solai, Lake 94 and Turkana.

Kiptoo was accompanied by officials from the Nakuru county Environment department.

Others were Nema director general Mamo Boru, Chief Conservator of Forests Julius Kamau, county commissioner Erastus Mbiu and MCA Joseph Bett.

Nakuru Environment chief officer Kiogora Murithi said the county administration is seeking a permanent solution to the problem.

Lake Nakuru started swelling in 2013 and has destroyed hundreds of acres of vegetation within the Lake Nakuru National Park.

Roads in the park have not been spared either and they require millions of shillings for rehabilitation.

In 2014, Lake Nakuru National Park had to relocate its main gate to the Kenya Wildlife Service Central Rift Educational Centre which was on higher grounds. This was after water started seeping through the floors of the offices.

The offices have since been completely submerged.

The water has spread past the park’s fences on the North Western side of the lake to people's farms, leading to the displacement of hundreds of families.