From: Leo Odera Omolo
Date: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 7:48 AM
Subject: REGIONAL MINISTERS TO MEET IN EGYPT OVER NILE BASIN INITIATIVE FORUM
REGIONAL MINISTERS TO MEET IN EGYPT OVER NILE BASIN INITIATIVE AND TO WORK OUT FAR-REACHING POLICY ON THE PROTECTION OF WATER SOURCES IN GREAT LAKES REGION.
Environmental feature by Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City
The Regional Ministers in-charge of water from countries that benefit from the River Nile converged in Alexandria City in Egypt this week to review progress of the Nile Basin Initiative.
The Ministers from Kenya, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, DRC Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and the Sudan are expected to review progress, work plans and strategic documents and reports of the Nile Basin Initiative.
A similar meeting was held in Kinshasa last year, but it was marred by walk out and serious disagreement forcing the date for the establishment of the Nile Basin Comission forward
But as Ministers meet in Alexandria, back at home, experts called on the government to manage water towers as national assets.
The Nile River begins from Lake Victoria, which has rapidly shrunk in depth with destruction of the controversial Mau Forest Complex in the Kenyan highlands, west of the Rift Valley.
A report on the Mau Forest Complex, which covers something in the region of 400,000 hectares says it is the most important source of water draining into Lake Victoria, Lake Nakuru Lake Turkana, Lake Baringo and Lake Natron in Tanzania.
Mau Forest also supports wildlife reserve in the famous tourist attraction area of the Maasai Mara and Serengeti National Game Park in Tanzania.
“Securing the water resources of the Mau Forest Complex is an initiative to sustain economic development, human well being and environment, stability in Western Kenya, and Rift Valley. This will require restoration of water catchment values in the Mau Forest Complex.” says the report just published by Prof. Fredrick Owino.
The report adds,”The annual direct revenues from tourism from Lake Nakuru and the Maasai Mara Game reserve is Kshs 5 billion annually. Any major disruption of Mara River, which is trans-boundary and very important to livelihood of the Serengeti National Game Park downstream in Tanzania is likely to strain relationship with Kenya.”
The Mara river supports a population of more than three million people in the Mara region and other millions in the adjacent countries who depend on the River Nile waters.
The Nile Basin Initiative website reported that the DRC Congo Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism Minister, Jose Endundo Bonange who is completing his one year term as chair of the Initiative, will this week pass the torch to Egyptian Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohammed Nur El Din Allam.
The chairmanship of the Nile Basin Initiative Council of Ministers {NILE –COM} is a rotational position among the Nile Basin countries.
The theme of the Alexandria meeting is “Nurturing Our Partnership for Prosperity’. It is the 17th since its inception in 1999.
With singular focus on its “Shared Vision” of achieving development through equitable utilization of and benefit from the Nile Basin, almost Kshs 2 billion {USD 800 million] of investments in the Nile Basin Initiative portfolio are now under implementation, including projects such as the Egypt West Delta Irrigation Scheme, Power Interconnection between Ethiopia and Sudan, as well as Regional Transmission Projects in the Equatorial Lakes region.
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com