Killer Patel Dam in Nakuru was not licensed, Water CS says

What you need to know:

The CS said the ministry had inspected and assessed the dam after the tragedy and discovered anomalies in the records and what was on the ground.
He said the only document on the mega development in their records was a 2004 permit for the construction weir.

The Patel Dam which collapsed in May killing 47 people and injuring many others, was constructed illegally.

Water Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui on Tuesday told a Senate committee that the dam was not licensed.

He told the committee chaired by Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr that records in the ministry show there is no dam on Mr Perry Mansukhlal’s farm in Solai.

The CS told the senators investigating the tragedy that the only document in their records was the permit allowing Salt Manufacturers to erect a weir to divert water to the dam.

A weir is a low dam built across a river to raise the level of water upstream or regulate its flow. However, the CS could not explain when the weir was constructed — telling the committee that transfer of records from the ministry to the Water Resources Management Authority (Warma) had not been completed.

The CS said the ministry had inspected and assessed the dam after the tragedy and discovered anomalies in the records and what was on the ground.

No inspection

He also told the committee that Warma had never inspected the dam since its construction in 2005.

He said the only document on the mega development in their records was a 2004 permit for the construction weir.

Last week, Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo told the committee that the dam was huge— with the capacity of 190 million cubic metres of water.

“We were shocked because there is a contradiction between what is on the ground and what is in the records,” Mr Chelugui told senators, suggesting that there is collusion between officers from Warma and the owners of the dam.

He said there was an omission in the permit issued for the construction of the weir.

He also said there had been no regular inspection of the dam as required by the law, vowing to take administrative action against the culprits in the ministry.

However, Mr Chelugui also faulted the law, which he said gives owners of the dam leeway in determining when such facilities are assessed and to volunteer such information to the agency.

The grilling of the CS was stopped after it emerged that there were many gaps in the documents he submitted to the committee.

This article was originally published on the Daily Nation website.