Ministry gazettes team to review dam licensing after Solai tragedy

What you need to know:

Task force announced a month after the Solai Dam tragedy in Subukia, Nakuru County, that killed 47 people.
Team tasked with coming up with a standard document that will be applied when licensing dams.
Task force to present recommendations within two months

The Water ministry on Friday gazetted a task force to review guidelines for licensing dams in the country,

The Kenya Gazette notice announcing the team comes a month after the Solai Dam tragedy in Nakuru that killed 47 people.

The task force comprises teams from the Interior ministry, dam experts, large dam managers such as KenGen and representatives from counties.

The team is tasked with coming up with a standard document that will be applied when licensing dams.

Water Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui faulted the current licensing terms, which do not consider risks that communities neighbouring the water bodies might be exposed to.

“Considering the risks and safety of our dams, the licensing requirements of our dams need to be really and clearly thought, they should be tabulated in a document that will be used to guide anyone who wants a licence to construct a dam,” said Mr Chelugui.

Two months

The CS spoke during a forum by the Rift Valley Water Services Board and leaders from Baringo County to discuss water problems.

Mr Chelugui said the task force would present the document with recommendations within two months.

He also said the ministry had instructed the owner of the farm whose dam caused the Solai disaster to drain all the dams, as investigative agencies continued with their probe.

“Security agencies who were carrying out investigations are about to finalise their report.

The investigative agencies are independent from the ministry, which is mainly offering technical support to the government authorities to be able to collect information,” said Mr Chelugui.

He said the ministry had engaged the owner of the farm and already three dams had been drained completely, while the rest were on the process.

“It is our strategy as the ministry of water to harvest rain water but as we harvest we ensure that Kenyans are safe and secure from those dams,” the CS said.

Saturday marks exactly a month since when the Patel Dam broke its walls, draining millions of litres of water to several villages in Solai in Subukia Sub-County, killing villagers and destroying land and properties