NATION AGENDA: Sh38 billion Itare dam controversy refuses to go away

The 28-kilometre earth road off the Molo-Olenguruone road that leads to Ndoinet Forest in Kuresoi North is a hive of activity.

The air is filled with the rumbling of bulldozers excavating mountains of red soil to pave way for the construction of feeder roads that will lead to the bowl shaped site at the heart of the Mau Forest.

A thick cloud of whitish dust billows out as a dry river bed snakes its way through rocks; thanks to depletion of the forest that has left the water tower bare.

The Itare Dam Water Supply project is slowly taking shape, having weathered stormy opposition that threatened to stall it.

The Sh38 billion dam in Nakuru county has been the subject of controversy, including an attempt to stop its construction by the Kipsigis Council of Elders.

Since its inception in June last year, the project has faced opposition coined around a narrative of environmental degradation.

The project, which is funded by the Italian government, was picked under the national water master plan as one of Jubilee’s flagship projects. It is expected to serve 800,000 people in Kuresoi, Molo, Njoro, Rongai and Nakuru town.

With a capacity to discharge 100,000 cubic metres of water a day, the 57-metre high dam will be managed by the Rift Valley Water Services Board.

WERE SUPPORTED

The idea was not taken up well by some residents, who were supported by opposition politicians.

They said the dam would reduce the region to a desert in a few years.

The residents, politicians and Kipsigis elders said the mega project would cause seven rivers that flow across Kericho, Bomet and Narok counties to Lake Victoria to dry up as their waters would be diverted to Baringo and Nakuru counties.

The claim that the dam could lead to the drying up of rivers Ndoinet, Songol, Chemosit, Tariganbei, Kipsonoi, Nyongores and Sondu made the project unpopular among Kericho residents, who demanded more information before its implementation.

There have also been fears that the dam could adversely affect wildlife, including those in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

There was a claim too that the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) had not cleared the project.

The controversies dogged the project for several months last year and saw the Kipsigis Council of Elders move to court in an attempt to stop it.

Despite the opposition, construction began in earnest and the dam is expected to be completed in 2020.

“We are in the initial stages of the project and what you see coming up are a crushing site, electrical and mechanical workshops, warehouse and offices,” Mr Riccardo Barro, an Italian supervisor for CMC of Ravenna, the company awarded the contract to construct the dam, told the Nation.

MATERIAL ARRIVES

According to Mr Barro, excavation will start in two weeks after material for building houses for about 40 expatriates arrives from Italy.

The Nation caught up with the Rift Valley Water Services Board officials who said the dam would have a holding capacity of 28 billion litres of water.

At least 100,000 cubic metres of water will be discharged from the dam per day to serve Kericho, Molo, Njoro, Elburgon, Rongai and Nakuru Town.

The Rift Valley Water Services Board CEO, Mr Japheth Mutai, gave assurances that water from the dam will only serve residents of Nakuru town.

The project will come as a relief to residents of Nakuru town who have experienced a perennial water shortages. The town gets only 35,000 cubic metres of water a day against a demand of 70,000 cubic metres.

The water firm said the site for the dam was chosen after many studies.

“This place was chosen because it is located in an area of great water resources which can be developed to meet the ultimate demand of the region,” according to a statement from the company.

The firm said that Kuresoi residents who will not get water directly from the dam, would also be beneficiaries as their smaller water projects will receive an injection of Sh 4 billion from the project to enable them boost supplies.

'COVER EVERYBODY'

“Places like Kiptagich, Keringet, Olenguruone and other parts of Kuresoi South and Kuresoi North will also benefit as the aim of the project is to cover everybody,” said Mr Mutai.

Kipsigis elder Edwin Kimetto said the government rushed into implementing the project without approval from Nema.

But according to the Rift Valley Water Services Board, preliminary related works including a geological survey, hydrological survey and financial feasibility study and detailed engineering designs for the project were done.

Mr Mutai said the environment agency issued a licence for the project after studying all the necessary reports.

He said the process involved public hearings and scrutiny of the board’s hydrology report and design.

“It is after this rigorous process that Nema issued a permit. Those saying we did not seek Nema approval are misleading the public,” Mr Mutai said.

According to the official, western Kenya residents who are served by River Sondu Miriu which originates from Mau Forest also attended the public hearings and that their names are in Nema’s final report.

Efforts by the Nation to get comments from Nema director Ayub Macharia to establish when the environment impact assessment on the project was conducted and its results were futile as he did not respond to our calls or text messages. The email to Nema offices was also not responded to.

ISSUED LICENCE

However, an official at Nema's Environment Impact Assessment department, who is not authorised to speak to the media, said the agency issued the board with the licence, but did not give details.

“Before Nema gives out a licence, it weighs all issues raised and makes the decision,” said the official.

Some of elders said the project would destroy the economy of Kericho and Bomet counties, which depend on tea farming.

Mr Mutai, however, insisted that a majority of Kipsigis elders supported the dam. Initially, Kuresoi residents had vowed to block the project but changed their mind.

“Their main issues were related to employment of youth but we assured them that the firm will not hire labour from outside, except technical positions where they will compete with others from Nakuru and other parts of the country,” Mr Mutai explained.

Opposition leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka say the dam will ruin livelihoods in the South Rift. Mr Musyoka even offered free legal services for those opposed to the project. The opposition chiefs have vowed to halt the project if they are elected into office.

The water board accused politicians, especially those from the opposition, of tarnishing the image of the project “that will transform the lives of millions of Kenyans” in order to attract voters.

'FROM RUNOFF'

“As the client for this project, I would like to assure Kenyans that dam will only get water from runoff. We will not tap water from rivers,” said Mr Mutai.

“It is very sad to hear politicians tell the public that the project will tap its water from the rivers. Kuresoi has rains almost throughout the year and it is this water that we shall tap.”

He tried to allay the fear that the rivers flowing to Kericho would dry up or their volumes reduce.

“We did calculations with local water experts and hydrologists from a German company called HP Guff International consultants before giving the project a clean bill of health,” he said.

According to Mr Mutai, donors also carried out their independent tests on environment assessment impact before agreeing to release funds.

“It would not have been possible for donors to provide that kind of money to a project that will destroy livelihoods of millions of Kenyans,” he said.

Mr Mutai said that nobody would be evicted as the 634 acres for the dam was set aside by the government in 1992 and a title deed issued to the board.

“This land was set aside long before people were settled near Ndoinet Forest. It is not true to say residents have been displaced,” he said.

He, however, said that families evicted from Mau Forest and settled near the dam had been compensated for the land and crops planted.

Contributors: Prof Edward Kairu, Francis Mureithi, Barnabas Bii and Grace Gitau.