Page 78 - MANDERA-COUNTY- THE 2019 MAGAZINE

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A mother and her children draw clean, safe drinking water from a tap as they enjoy the joy of improved provision of the precious
commodity for Mandera residents.
Sh2.5b water and sewerage project launched

andera Town residents will benefit However this will soon be a thing of the past This intervention, Arai noted was laudable and
from a whooping Sh2.5 billion after the County Government in collaboration thanked the Ministry of water for championing
Mwater and sewerage project set for with the National Government and other key such a ‘wonderful life changing’ project that
completion within 20 months. partners launched an ambitious Sh1.4 billion would benefit over 252,000 people.
Funded by the Africa Development Bank targeting over 100,000 families.
(AfDB), the project will provide safe and The project will cover all the nine locations of
clean safe water and improve sanitation. During the handing over of the project site Mandera Town including the furthest corners
The two projects are being undertaken by Deputy Governor Mohamed Arai said he was like Koromei and Neboi wards. The works
Chinese firm Sini Hydro which is expected happy to join residents of Mandera Town include a pipeline of 316,820 metres.
to hand it over for commissioning within in the launch of the works as it would go a
18-24 months. Despite Article 43 of the long way in quenching the thirst of Mandera “It comes with a water treatment system with
Constitution clearly listing water as a basic people. a capacity of handling over 16,000 cubic
human right which should be available in “Through partnership with stakeholders we metres per day with all its components and
adequate quantities, residents of Mandera have a vision of making efforts to ensure the water pumps will be mounted from a
County have never relied on conventional all Mandera residents have access to floating position deploying some of the latest
water sources. clean piped water. It is a milestone for us state of the art technologies,” he said.
and we thank the National Government for
Over the years the main sources of water negotiating for resources that will finance this Deputy Governor Arai noted that after the
have been River Daua and water pans, which Sh.1.4 billion project for the construction of completion of the project, the treatment
has exposed residents to risk of contracting a modern water supply system for Mandera works will include filtration and disinfection to
waterborne diseases. Town and its environs,” he said. render it safe for human consumption.
It is a normal occurrence to see individuals The DG said water provision anchors very The project will have storage tanks with
with carts pulled by donkeys hawking water well in the Sustainable Development Goal a capacity of 16,037 cubic metres with
and residents scrambling for the precious (SDG) number 6, which seeks to ensure concrete underground tanks and elevated
commodity without bothering to know where access to safe and affordable drinking water steel pressed tanks.
it has been sourced from. for all.