Kenya coast hotels set to get more water

(eTN) – The Coast Water and Services Board has now started to pump an extra 35 million liters of water a day to the coast, stretching from Malindi to Mombasa, a significant increase in capacity, which

(eTN) – The Coast Water and Services Board has now started to pump an extra 35 million liters of water a day to the coast, stretching from Malindi to Mombasa, a significant increase in capacity, which now stands at 155 million liters a day overall. This represents an increase of about 30%, from previous 120 million liters.

Regular and sufficient water supplies are crucial to the tourism industry at the coast, with its hot and humid climate and periodic rationing in the past that left tourists dissatisfied and hotels struggling to get water with tankers after the pipes had gone dry.

A major work program, which started in 2010 and was financed by the World Bank and the French government, worth 7 billion Kenya Shillings, has now come to its conclusion, after rehabilitating sections of the pipeline from the Mzima Springs pumping station inside Tsavo West National Park. Additionally a number of borehole pumps have been overhauled or exchanged, improving the โ€˜productionโ€™ considerably. The Baricho water works too had its capacity upgraded and facilities refurbished, bringing relief, at least for some time, to consumers along the Kenya coast.

A regular contributor from Mombasa had this to say: โ€˜It is one of our sectorโ€™s main demands to government, to provide enough water. Hotels and resorts need water in this climate. Together with electricity it is crucial to provide a good holiday experience to visitors. The announcement by the water company was timely. What we still need are better roads and a cleaner Mombasa. Traffic jams in and out of Mombasa have become a problem. So while we can tick off one issue from our agenda, other issues remain just as urgent for government to tackleโ€™.

The same source also confirmed that coast arrivals are compared to a year ago down by over 20%, posing a challenge to coast resorts to explore new markets, not just from overseas but the wider region and in particular from the domestic market.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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