The LAPSSET Authority plans to construct a Sh 350 million desalination plant in Lamu by next year to enhance water supply in the county, Director General Sylvester Kasuku has said.
Construction of the desalination plant in Lamu will be completed within 18 months and is expected to supply at least 3,000 cubic metres of water daily.
Kasuku said the authority is currently carrying out a study of where to locate the plant that will reclaim sea water into drinking water.
“It is of note that the project to build a desalination plant was informed by the LAPSSET Project’s need to have both the resort and port city with a ready access to clean piped water, which has so far not been realised in Lamu County,” Kasuku stated.
He however noted that there are still a few details that need to be agreed with the Lamu County government, but stated that the project already has a green light from the national government.
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A desalination plant is among a raft of one of election pledges that President Uhuru Kenyatta made to Lamu, which he noted had been plagued by poor water supply for access to its residents.
“By building the desalination plant, we will be resolving the water crisis and poor water supply in Lamu, which is still among the regions where residents still have to walk long distances for access to fresh water,” the official stated.
“The government will provide a spine of measures among which include access to fresh water, electricity and a good road network to ensure that investors know that Lamu is a viable investment destination both as an economic and industrial hub, as well as a resort city once the LAPSSET project is fully realised,” Lapsset Chairman Francis Muthaura also stated.
Muthaura said that by building the desalination plant, Lamu County will be transformed from a county that was once considered arid to an agricultural breadbasket for the country.
He added that the LAPSSET Authority is ready to increase the county government’s capacity through mutual assistance in realising government projects that will create jobs for youths both in the formal and informal sector.
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