Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects: Ground Breaking Ceremony of the Project for Water Supply in Karadolo West
2015/4/29
| Title | Ground Breaking Ceremony of the Project for Water Supply in Karadolo West |
| Date | 29th April 2015 |
| Location | North West Ugenya Location, Ukwala Division, Ugenya District, Siaya County |
| Project title | The Project for Water Supply in Karadolo West |
| Amount | US$86,343 (Approx. Kshs 7.8 million) |
| Attendance |
Total of about 300 participants
|
| Main activity | The Ground Breaking Ceremony of the “Project for Water Supply in Karadolo West” was held in Ugenya District, Siaya County and witnessed by among others, officials from the Embassy of Japan in Kenya. The grant contract for this project availed funds to be used for installing a 6.5m pipeline from a nearby dam to the community, 1 water tower, 5 water kiosks, and 3 toilet blocks to improve the accessibility to clean water in Karadolo West. Mulambo Self Help Group was established in 1993 to improve the life of Karadolo community. The people in Karadolo sometimes walk for more than 5 km per day to streams, ponds and boreholes to fetch water. However, due to the lack of sanitation facilities, most of the sources that can be fetched are contaminated by human waste. Many people, therefore, get water borne diseases. The largest sources of water in this area is the Mauna Dam, which has the capacity to supply water to over 30,000 residents, but has been under-utilized as only 60% can receive water because the government was lacking fund for piping. The water piping was limited to the northern part of the Mauna Dam and unfortunately could not cover the southern area. Therefore, this project aims to supply safe water from Mauna Dam to Karadolo area. On the day of the ceremony, H.E. Terada, Ambassador of Japan, paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Cornel Rasanga, Governor of Siaya County before the ceremony and headed to the ceremony site with H.E. Mr. Rasanga by passing through the roads where the piping for the GGP project will be done. At the ceremony, Ambassador Terada in his speech explained Japan’s Country Assistance Policy for Kenya which identifies five priority areas as Development of Economic Infrastructure, Agricultural Development, Environmental Conservation, Human Resources Development, and Health and Medical Care. Among the five sectors, three of them (agriculture, environment and health) are basically related to water. He emphasized by stating that “safe water is not only the basis of life and good health, but is also essential for economic growth, poverty alleviation and human dignity”. In addition, he introduced an ongoing project using Japanese counter fund for Kenya called, “Lake Victoria Comprehensive Ecosystem and Aquatic Environment Research for Development Project” which aims to improve the water quality for the people living around Lake Victoria to ease their life. In addition, Ambassador Terada, introduced the 4 JICA volunteers (Ms. Yui Hamaoka, Ms. Miki Kumada, Ms. Mariko Yamaguchi, Mr. Hodaka Kosugi) who are currently working around Siaya County to explain that Japan is happy to commit themselves to have volunteers serving the community at a grassroots level. The Ambassador also introduced the TICAD (Tokyo International Conference for African Development) Conference, a forum that will be held in Africa next year. He mentioned that Kenya is one of the candidates likely to host the conference and that he hopes the cooperation between Japan and Kenya will expand further more. H.E. Mr. Rasanga, Governor of Siaya County, thanked Japan for the support for the water project in Karadolo and added that the county is eager to cooperate further with Japan in both infrastructures and technical assistances. |
Photographs
