STORY By VERONICA NTHAKYO
The African Development Bank has set aside an extra KSh9.6 billion for the completion of Thwake Multipurpose Dam.
During a site tour on Friday the Director for Water at AfDB, Mtchera Johannes, said that the Bank was satisfied with the quality of work and it was willing to give a top up to complete the work.
"Upon completion,the dam will serve a huge population of people in Makueni,Kitui and Machakos counties ,"noted Mtchera. He noted that the dam work seemed to have moved sluggishly since it was started in 2017 with completion having initially been earmarked for 2022.
However, unavoidable factors like COVID-19 led to delay among other issues . "Yes in principal we want projects done promptly for the people to benefit but the mitigating factors such as safety must be considered to prevent major risks," added Mtchera.
According to Michael Kahiti, diirector of Planning and head of Africa division, the. National Treasury had already received the proposal from AfDB and only the approval of the Cabinet Secretary at the National Treasury John Mbadi was being awaited.
On his part ,the program coordinator Eng.David Onyango noted that the inspection tour was meant to assess the scope of the work done and the quantity left.
The project once completed will store 688 billion cubic meters of water. It will provide water for domestic use, livestock and irrigation to boost food production in the region. The dam is now at 94.2 percent and it is expected to be complete by next year.
Konza Tecno City and other major town centres like Wote town in Makueni will also get water from Thwake dam. Successive phases will see the development of hydropower generating system with an installed capacity of 20MW and an irrigation scheme in an estimated 100,000 acres of land, a milestone towards food security.
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