Gatanga residents to benefit from the Northern Collector water
About 40,000 residents from Gatanga in Murang'a County are set to benefit from clean water supply upon the completion of the Northern Collector Tunnel.
According to the area Member of Parliament Ngugi Nduati, the government through the Ministry of Water has agreed to give a share of this water to the locals.
Ngugi said this is a major relief for the residents who have for a long time been fetching water from the rivers.
"We had intense lobbying negotiation on this matter and finally we got what we have been pushing for," said Ngugi.
"The President has promised us that before the water goes to Nairobi, the locals shall get a share of it and this is what we have been pursuing," he added.
The MP said they have already identified the areas where the water shall be supplied and the piping shall be done in the next three months.
"We shall tap water from the Kigoro treatment plant and channel it to the intended areas," he said.
Ngugi has been among the leaders from the county who have been pushing for the residents to get a share of the Ndakaini water as part of the compensation for the water supplied to Nairobi.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water Joseph Irungu who toured the area to commission a borehole in Ithanga said the government is working to increase water connections countrywide.
He said the Ministry is racing against time to sink 193 boreholes in five counties which make up the Nairobi Metropolitan. They include: Murang’a, Kiambu, Machakos, Nairobi and Kajiado.
"We have so far done 93 boreholes and we intend to have the remaining 100 completed in three month's time," he said.
The PS said the boreholes will offer solutions to dry and areas without water.
"The demand for water is high especially during this corona period when people are required to observe high level of hygiene," he remarked.
Irungu said the government aims to have increased water connection in the whole country to 80 percent by 2022.
