Dunea, Homawasco and Amref Flying Doctors commission drinking water plant in Homa Bay, Kenya

The plant was officially opened on 10 April and allows Homawasco to supply safe drinking water to an additional 15,000 Kenyans. The extension work started one year ago as part of the WaterWorX programme, a programme of Dutch drinking water companies and supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Urbanisation

More and more people in Homa Bay county are moving to the cities and urban areas such as Kendu Bay are expending rapidly. Currently, 15 percent of the people in Homa Bay live in a slum. These people live in houses made of iron plates and there is a big shortage of toilets and clean water. As these people are also entitled to live safely and healthy, the local water supply company needs to provide toilets, hygiene and clean water.

Knowledge development and infrastructure

Dunea did not only invest in the hard water infrastructure, they also transferred knowledge and experience to the people of the local water company. Knowledge transfer included several business processes such as finance, human resources and communication.

According to Pim van der Male, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this thorough approach is responsible for sustainable development, one of the distinguishing aspects of the WaterWorX programme. "Knowledge development gives a completely different dynamic, compared to just giving technical advice. Exchanging knowledge is much more sustainable and effective."
Van der Male: "The ultimate goal is to create a well-functioning water company that supplies water to everyone and can also financially support itself."

Short term improvements

Evans Nyagol, managing director of Homawasco, is very enthusiastic: "The management of Homawasco consists of young, well-trained and motivated employees. By exchanging knowledge and experience with Dunea, we are taking major steps quickly. We have confidence that we can improve our services on short term."

Wim Drossaert, CEO of Dunea on the occasion of the commissioning: "We see that our presence also gives confidence to other organisations. This creates a whole program of initiatives that strengthens the region as a whole."

Trust of local population

Drossaert emphasises the role of Amref Flying Doctors for reaching the poorest with water supply: "Amref is not only an important co-financier in the project, they also ensure that we get the trust of the local population. Amref is strongly rooted in Kenya and has a large network. That makes it a lot easier for us to do our work."

Patricia Vermeulen, CEO of Amref Flying Doctors, adds: "Together we ensure that 15,000 people will have clean drinking water and are willing to pay for it. In this way we work on a truly sustainable solution for a clean drinking water supply in the communities."

WaterWorX programme

The project in Kendu Bay and the surrounding towns in Homa Bay is part of the WaterWorX programme, supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

WaterWorx runs until 2030 and aims to improve sustainable access to drinking water to 10 million people in developing countries by 2030.

All water projects are being implemented by ten Dutch water companies in collaboration with 23 local water managers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.