Governor Sakaja Gives Hope To Nairobians On Water Shortage
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is confident that the county’s long-standing water problem would be addressed within the next two years.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s JKLive Show on Wednesday, Sakaja offered a clear strategy for addressing Nairobi’s water situation, which he claims has been exacerbated by rapid population increase and poor infrastructure.
According to Sakaja, Nairobi has always struggled to deliver water to its population, relying on only four major sources: Kikuyu Springs, Ruiru Dam, Sasumwa Dam, and Ndakaini.
According to Sakaja, Ndakaini is the most important, delivering 84% of Nairobi’s water.
However, he pointed out that Ndakaini was built to serve a population of 2 million, whereas Nairobi’s population has already increased to over 7 million.
According to Sakaja, Nairobi receives 522 million liters of water every day, whereas the demand ranges from 870 million to 900 million litres.
According to the Nairobi Governor, the first critical step toward addressing the city’s water scarcity is the construction of the Northern Collector Tunnel, which has been postponed for several years.
“The first thing I promised in the campaigns was to make sure the Northern Collector Tunnel is completed,” he said.
“It had been stuck and there was politics around it but it’s done. We’ve completed the Northern Collector Tunnel, it’s just waiting for commissioning. The water is coming in.”
He noted that the tunnel will add 140 million liters of water to Nairobi’s supply each day and that it has already begun to reach previously underserved communities like as Karen, Riruta, and South B.
“Remember the gap between 525 and 900 million litres and we’ve gotten 140 million litres extra and so the rationing program will ease up. Those who are getting it twice will now probably get it 3-4 times,” said Sakaja.
The Nairobi Governor also highlighted a new water supply line for Lang’ata, which he claims had previously suffered from inadequate pressure.
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Sakaja also disclosed that Nairobi will get a USD100 million commitment from the Korean government to fund two further critical projects: the Maragua 4 and Northern Collector 2 water schemes.
Sakaja claims that these projects, combined with other upgrades such as a reverse backwash filtration system in Gatundu North, will reclaim 30 million litres of water wasted each day, adding an additional 220 million litres to Nairobi’s supply.
“We have negotiated with partners like the Korean government and they have committed USD100 million. Unfortunately, with the structure of government, I can only get it through the National Treasury,” he said.
“I can’t borrow directly but that discussion is going on. The USD 100 million will help us do Maragua 4 and Northern Collector 2…that will give us 180 million litres of water.”
Governor Sakaja Gives Hope To Nairobians On Water Shortage
