More leaders oppose water tunnel project

Tana River Governor Hussein Dado, MPs Ibrahim Sane (Garsen), Ali Wario (Bura) and Members of the County Assembly now say the project will hurt livelihoods in the region.PHOTO: COURTESY

Opposition to the Sh6.8 billion Northern Water Collector Tunnel in Murang'a County continued to gather momentum.

Tana River Governor Hussein Dado, MPs Ibrahim Sane (Garsen), Ali Wario (Bura) and Members of the County Assembly now say the project will hurt livelihoods in the region.

Orange Democratic Movement party leader Raila Odinga is spearheading opposition to the project designed to collect flood waters from rivers in Murang'a for supply to Nairobi.

Raila has claimed the project will turn parts of the country into a desert.

Yesterday, Governor Dado said the national government should have consulted communities in all the counties living along the River Tana before the project commenced.

The leaders questioned why the Government was in a hurry to start the project before considering its effects on local communities.

They said the economy of the county and neighbouring counties depended entirely on the Tana.

The county plans to dispatch a team to Murang'a to confirm that water flow into the Tana has not been blocked.

"I wonder why the Government was rushing the project yet they knew there are people living downstream," said Mr Dado.

The leaders announced plans to harness the Tana's waters for the county's drought-ravaged hinterland.

They said the project would affect people and wildlife in various regions as rivers dry up, and must not be allowed to proceed.

Former MPs Danson Mungatana and Major Dado Godana also joined the fray.

Both said the Government should have carried out further environmental impact assessments before beginning  the project.