By FREDRICK OBURA

Community leaders and conservationists will now move to court to block a dam project in Nandi South Forest.

The leaders said they were opposed to the project that would see ten million trees cut to pave the way for a multi-purpose dam.

They said the action is likely to change rainfall patterns and lead to desertification.

"We are not going to wait for the 90-day window period they have offered to seek our views," said Mr Ezekiel Ruto, the Nandi County Council chairman.

"I have already collected 54 signatures from local leaders, including councillors, and we will be moving to court any time now," he said.

The leaders said they were shocked to hear meetings had been held in Nairobi and Nyanza where plans for the project had been discussed.

No consultations

"We oppose the dam construction. There ought to have been enough consultation with the Nandi South community before drafting the project papers," said Mr Peter Kiptanui, the chairman of Kopjoi Community Forest Association.

Speaking in his office, the chairman said the community would put together its resources to ensure more than 1,000 hectares of forestland is not cleared for the dam.

The controversy surrounds the Nandi multi-purpose dam project to be implemented by the Lake Basin Development Authority at Sh15 billion in a period of eight years.

The Cabinet approved it on August 20, 2009, and consultants undertaking feasibility and environmental impact assessment studies were contracted early 2010. The project is meant to divert River Yala from the forest and draw 9 per cent of its water to River Nyando.

The project includes a 60m high dam with a 1.5km long crest over the Yala River (one of the five main rivers that drain into Lake Victoria), a hydraulic tunnel (approximately 17km long) and a hydropower plant producing approximately 50 MW of power.

The project also includes irrigation of 17,000ha in the Nyanza sugar belt, the supply of drinking water (to Vihiga, Hamisi, Nandi Central, Kisumu and Nyando) and flood control.

Mr Maina Mwangi of the Lake Basin Development Authority, who is the project coordinator, said the Government had chosen the forest because it met all requirements for a multi-purpose dam.

"What they are not highlighting is the fact that 1,250 ha of the forest will be cleared to pave way for the dam," said Mr Rudolf Makhanu, the co-ordinator of the Kenya Forest Working Group. About ten million trees would be cut down."

He added: "We fault the Government for not factoring in the side effects of the dam."