Kiambu Residents to Relocate Graves From Dam Construction Site

Only two families have relocated graves of their loved ones in readiness for the construction of Karimenu dam, whose construction has begun in Gatundu North in Kiambu County.

Eng. Emily Kilongi, in her report to Kiambu Development Implementation Coordination Committee (CDICC), Saturday said work on the mega dam had begun and that it would not be hampered by any further delay.

The National Irrigation Board Engineer said this was a drop in the ocean, considering that 27 families had been tasked to relocate the graves, so as to pave way for the construction of the Ksh23 billion dam.

At least 246 families will be affected by the construction of the dam but have been compensated and most given land elsewhere, and are currently moving out. Each family was paid Ksh90, 000 per grave as communicated to the committee.

The mega project is expected to consume 670 acres of land in Gituamba, Kanyoni, Kiriko and Buchana sub-locations of Gatundu North.

On completion, it will serve at least more than 1,000 families drawn from Kiambu and Nairobi counties, who have previously suffered from water rationing.

In the event that the affected families fail to relocate the said graves, Engineer Kilongi clarified that the remains will be removed and buried in a mass grave at an appropriate location.

The project is expected to take 36 months after the handing over of the site was done on April 2 this year. The signing of Karimenu 11 water supply project was done in May 2017, after which the process to negotiate with the community who lived on the land earmarked for the project begun.

It experienced some delay following the end of the term for the commissioners at the National Land Commission (NLC) as the processing of compensation was disrupted temporarily.

The dam measures 59 meters high with 26.5 cubic meters and is expected to produce 70,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day.

Kiambu County commissioner, Wilson Wanyanga, commended the families for their co-operation in moving out to allow the construction of the dam, noting there would be adequate provision of water for domestic consumption and even irrigation for food security.

Wanyanga added that the committee shall pay a site visit to the dam, on Tuesday, after touring roads constructed by KeRRA in Gatundu North.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *