THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DECLARE LAKE VICTORIA WATER HYACINTH A NATIONAL DISASTER

Early this week, counties bordering Lake Victoria bought a water hyacinth harvester. The counties, which form Lake Region Economic block comprises Homabay, Migori, Siaya, and Busia.The equipment was bought with aid from World Bank at a cost of 76Million.This comes barely five months after the leaders of the counties filed a case against the government at the High Court for what they termed, a deliberate 'economic sabotage' policy of the said regions by the Jubilee administration.

A look at Lake Victoria today will leave you in shock. The once dazzling second largest fresh water lake is a pale shadow of its former self. If there will not be any urgent government intervention, then we might as well bid it goodbye. For instance, as you approach Kisumu, it is difficult to tell where the landmass ends and the lake begins. What you see, is a large mass of green vegetation running into thousands of hectares. Operations at the Kisumu port have come to an abrupt standstill as the once busy port is completely blocked by the green water weed. Ships and other big water vessels that used to operate on Lake Victoria waters can be spotted grounded in the port surrounded by the weed unable to move. Water transport across the above counties is no longer tenable. The same applies to water transport between Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.