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New Initiative to Clean Up Nairobi Dam Offers Hope to Millions of Slum
Dwellers
Nairobi Dam Trust Initiative Will Mobilize Resources to Restore
Kenyan Capital’s Reservoir
Nairobi, 4 March 2004- A new initiative to restore the Nairobi
Dam and its waters back to health will be launched tonight by H.E Hon.
Moody Awori, Vice President of Kenya, Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director
of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Anna Tibaijuka, Executive
Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
and Mr. Paul Andre de la Porte, the Resident Representative of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The project, called the Nairobi Dam Trust Initiative, aims to raise up
to $600,000 to clean up the reservoir so that it can be again an important
source of clean and healthy drinking water as well as a magnet for water
sports enthusiasts, fishermen, picnickers and bountiful bird life.
Mr Toepfer and Mrs Tibaijuka said the new Trust was part of a wider initiative
to clean up the Nairobi River: “The Nairobi River Basin Project,
launched in 1999 and supported by UNEP, UN-HABITAT and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) has been helping to improve the water quality
and environmental health of this most vital of river systems. Its Trust
Fund, established by UNEP, has attracted considerable support with the
Government of Belgium having contributed $400,000 and pledging to contribute
a further $2.1 million for the project’s third phase. We are also
grateful to the Government of France for contributing $65,000”.
“However, it is clear that the Nairobi Dam presents a particular
problem. We congratulate the newly formed Friends of the Nairobi Dam for
launching this new Trust Initiative and call on all actors, including
the private sector, to wholeheartedly back the scheme,” said Mr.
Klaus Toepfer.
“Cleaning up the dam and the water sources of Nairobi will directly
benefit the urban poor,” said Mrs. Tibaijuka. “However, it
is important to realize that successful completion of the project will
require a commitment by all stakeholders to slum upgrading and to providing
decent shelter, adequate sanitation and clean water to the poor, especially
those living in Kibera.”
Currently, 3.6 million people living in informal settlements in Kenya
do not have adequate water supply and sanitation utilities. They rely
on water kiosks, water vendors and natural sources of water.
The water scarcity in Kenya is due to an increase in population, an increase
in pollution, imprudent management of the water resources and degradation
of river catchment areas as a result of such factors as illegal and unsustainable
logging of forests. It is estimated that this poor water management is
costing the Kenyan economy almost US$ 50 million annually.
From a national perspective, Kenya is classified as a “chronically
water-scarce country” with only 650 cubic meters per inhabitant
per year representing only 24% of the water that is available to an Ugandan,
and 22% of the water available to a Tanzanian.
The Nairobi Dam, 356,179 square meters and carrying capacity 98,422 cubic
meters was commissioned in 1953 as reservoir for potable and emergency
water supply. The population of Nairobi at that time was about 10,000
and it was already evident that the existing water resources had to be
harnessed for the growing population.
The dam gradually became a major attraction for recreational activities
such as sport fishing, sailing, diving, picnics and other water sports.
Unfortunately, heavy pollution emanating from the high-density population
of the Kibera informal settlement has stimulated growth of invasive plant
species, especially Water Hyacinth and Parrots Feather which have infested
the water body since 1998 and have curtailed recreational activities.
Invasive aquatic weeds and solid waste dumping have completely altered
the aquatic ecology and flow regimes of associated rivers.
Other problems of the dam have been as a result of lack of proper waste
management, solid waste, liquid waste and industrial waste. Water samples
from the dam have consistently registered very high coliform counts which
indicate a high degree of sewage contamination. This and other pollutants
have rendered the water in the river system and the dam totally unusable
and hazardous to human health.
One of the immediate roles of the Nairobi Dam Trust Initiative will be
to mobilize financial resources to meet the investment needs in the rehabilitation
and restoration of the Nairobi Dam, and the Kenyan water sector in general.
Contributions and donations from bilateral, multilateral and private
sector players will be directed towards the support of the Nairobi Dam
Initiative.
Note to Editors
Friends of Nairobi Dam Association (FoNDa) was founded in March 2003 to
oversee the formulation and implementation of the Environmental Management
Plan for the Nairobi Dam, in an effort to consolidate all initiatives
towards the rehabilitation of the Nairobi Dam.
Stakeholders who constitute Friends of Nairobi Dam include: landlords
and tenants of Kibera and surrounding areas; Civil Society (NGOs; CBOs;
Neighbourhood Associations; Water User Associations); NCC; the Sailing
Club; Government Ministries (Water; Environment; Local Government; Lands;
Roads, Public Works and Housing); NEMA; Provincial Administration; UN-Agencies
and Multi- and Bi-lateral Agencies (DFID; AFD; World Bank).
For more information please contact: Eric Falt, Director
United Nations Information Centre on Tel: 254 20 623292, Mobile: 254 (0)
733 682656, E-mail: eric.falt@unep.org
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