Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is today set to commission a project to dredge Lake Victoria in an effort to remove water hyacinth and other sediments in a move aimed at easing the navigation of vessels for optimisation of the blue economy.

The project will also see the shoreline drilled to at least six metres to allow berthing of heavily loaded ships as well as the expansion of the landing bay to about 80 metres to enable it to accommodate two ships at a time.

According to Kenya Ports Authority head of Inland Waterways Javan Wanga,  The pier has accumulated residues over the years and has made some areas shallow up to a level of between 1.5 and three metres deep.

A 70-metre-long dredging vessel, which has the capacity to carry 4,000 tonnes, arrived in Kisumu on Thursday.

The exercise will cover 62 kilometers and will take at least 30 months to complete.

WATER HYACINTH 

The water hyacinth has been choking up lake Victoria for years. The weed has continued to deteriorate the water quality and ecosystem of the lake.