Kenya: Clean water gushes from Turkish-funded pump

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Thousands of poor residents of Bull’s Eye village in the county of Kajiado, Kenya on Friday drew water from a Turkish-funded water pump that will provide clean water to more than 3,000 people.

In Kajiado, water is scarce with many areas facing acute shortages, and locals -- mostly women -- having to trek for miles to get the precious commodity.

Alice Nkirote, a primary school student, told Anadolu Agency that prior to the project, children used to skip school to search for water for their families.

"Now we have water, we won’t stay out of school, we won’t walk for long in search of water," she said.

Nairobi Coordinator of the Turkish state-run Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) Emre Yuksek said the project was meant to reverse these problems faced by the local people and deliver high-quality water.

He added that improved water supply would mean for locals hastened economic development that would "help in the war on hunger and poverty in the entire county."

"These communities are not just trapped in a constant cycle of poverty, but their lack of access to clean water also means the children who should be in school often end up missing out anyway, due to sickness and poor health."

Aside from the solar-powered water pump, the project includes reservoir steel tanks and digital prepaid meters on all watering points to serve the community as well as the local primary and secondary schools.

TIKA noted that the prepaid meters were installed at various points to "address sustainability challenges" such as poor water revenue collection, lack of transparency, non-revenue water losses, poor operations and maintenance.

It implemented measures to ensure that the $80,000 project was owned in full by the community.

Also present at the ceremony was Turkish Ambassador to Kenya Ahmet Cemil Miroglu, who noted that Turkey would continue to undertake the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project in Kajiado as part of a humanitarian and development partnership between Ankara and Nairobi.

Michael Semera, an official from the Ministry of Water in Kajiado, said: "We appreciate what Turkey has brought us. Water is life, and when you provide water, no one will ever forget."