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Last Updated: 25/8/2006
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KISUMU (August 25) -The Kenyan government says that Uganda has agreed to close down two hydroelectric turbines at the source of the River Nile to stop the excessive flow of water from Lake Victoria.
Addressing stakeholders of the Kenya Nile Discourse Forum (KNDF), an environmental civil society, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Professor George Krhoda said that the plant had caused an alarming decline of Lake Victoria’s waters.
Last year, a sharp drop in the lake’s water level paralyzed transport as ships and boats got stuck in the shallow harbours and piers causing operators to stop or scale down operations. This led to an overall decline in business and trade in the region.
Nile treaty
On the 1929 Nile Treaty, Prof. Krhoda said Kenya rejected Article 8, which demands that Kenya seek permission to use the Nile waters. He explained that it was not prudent to invoke a prejudicial clause that would deny communities the right to access water resources.
However, he said negotiations have been on for the last 18 months to develop a framework, which would lead to the protection, development, conservation and management of the Nile basin resources.
Poverty, population explosion and civil strife among countries at the upper region of the Nile, he noted, were a subject of concern. He said it was important to develop the regions to avoid a situation that would degenerate into chaos.
The PS explained that with the signing of the Nile Legal Framework to be done this year, the anticipated fear and animosity between Egypt and the other nine countries lying at the Nile basin would be solved.
(Compiled KNA and OPC)
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