World Bank gives Sh274 million for lake conservation
A ship ploughs through a mass of water hyacinth as it leaves Kisumu pier for Mwanza in Tanzania. The proliferation of the weed has been attributed to water pollution. File
What you need to know:
Money allocated to groups in western Kenya will help fight degradation.
The World Bank has given Sh274 million to 82 community groups in western Kenya to protect the environment.
The first tranche of Sh77 million was given to the communities over the weekend by the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Program (LVEMP II) for eradicating environmental degradation around the lake basin.
Environment secretary Alice Kaudia said the ministry had designed a civic education programme to enable community members conserve the environment.
“The beneficiaries, who range from business groups to bee keepers and poultry keepers, will be trained on how well to use the funds in maintaining environmental cleanliness,” said Ms Kaudia.
LVEMP communication officer Nicholas Manyolo said they were seeking to reduce emission of industrial effluent into Lake Victoria by up to 30 per cent by 2015. The empowerment of community groups is intended to involve them in keeping the environment clean and safe.
“The groups while boosting productivity in their sectors will help find safer ways of emitting used waste material instead of directing them towards the lake. For instance, a local fish processing plant, which is part of the groups, will be informed enough to cease from polluting the lake through its waste matter,” Mr Manyolo said.
A report by an agency campaigning to ensure a cleaner lake late last year said that 90 per cent of regional small scale industries and groups around the lake find it hard to comply with set effluent discharge standards.
Kenya National Cleaners Production Centre (KNCPC) said that such industries would benefit from use of the waste material if they were well trained. The company found out that the Kenyan side of the lake released thousands of tonnes of effluent into the fresh water lake on a yearly basis.
It attributed the proliferation of water hyacinth to the over pollution by waste from the municipality, agricultural lands and industries. The groups will each benefit from sh934, 802 from the first phase. The money will be given in two phases.
“We have already disbursed 28 per cent of the total amount and we will only disburse the rest after prove of proceeds by the groups,” said Mr Manyolo.
