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THE WATER MAFIA DOES NOT GIVE UP
Forest
evictions to go on, says Karua
Story by SUNDAY NATION Correspondent
Publication Date: 10/2/2005
The Government will not go back on
plans to remove people living in its forests illegally, Water
minister Martha Karua said yesterday.
The destruction of forests
countrywide had lowered the water table, she said, adding that the
Government would step up the protection of the water sources and
the planting of trees.
The protection of the water sources
would now be done by the Water Resources Management Board, she
pointed out, and urged Kenyans to support the Government in its
efforts to serve wananchi.
Ms Karua was speaking at Njokerio
Mwihoti in Nakuru's Njoro area where she commissioned a Sh6
million water project.
She urged the residents to seek
loans to boost their water supply through the Water Resource Trust
Fund and call for expertise from the Water Services Regulatory
Board.
Church World Services
She was accompanied by Office of
the President assistant minister Mirugi Kariuki, area MP Mukiri
Macharia, Rift Valley Water Services Board chairman and Egerton
University vice-chancellor Ezra Maritim, Farming Systems Kenya
officials and missionaries from the Church World Services of the
US who have sponsored the project.
Prof Maritim said the
decentralisation of the services had enabled many Kenyans to have
access to water. The university, he added, was having discussions
with the European Union for a Sh500 million grant for a dam to
serve also the local community.
The water would be pumped to Lare,
Njokerio, Egerton and Njoro township.
Prof Maritim said the project was
aimed at saving rivers Njoro and Ndarugu, which supply Lake
Nakuru.
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