This archive report was first published on 29 October 2019.
Published on October 29, 2019, the Russian government has invested a significant amount of 724M shillings to remove the stubborn water hyacinth weed from Lake Victoria.
The exercise, which will cover approximately 14,000 acres of Lake Victoria, will start from the counties of Busia, Kisumu, Siaya, Homabay, and Migori.
Following the Russia-Africa Summit held in Sochi, Russia last week, attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, the funding was made available.
ODM leader Raila Odinga had launched the dredging and hyacinth removal in the lake in January this year.
According to Javan Wanga, the head of Inland Waterways at the Kenya Ports Authority, the exercise will cover 62 kilometres and will take at least 30 months to complete.
The shoreline will be drilled to at least six metres to allow berthing of heavily loaded ships.
Locals will be hired and trained to clean up the lake in the meantime, as the firm awaits the arrival of two hyacinth harvesting machines from China.
Frank Nenard, the administrator of Mv Mangoe Tree, stated that the removal of the stubborn weed would start after three months.
Plans are also in place to put up a barricade around the gulf to effectively control the weed.
Dr. Mathews Owili, the Kisumu Deputy Governor, emphasized that the dredging and removal of the hyacinth are just part of the plan to transform the lake infrastructure.
