Lake project also to cover Burundi, Rwanda

The Citizen

By Zephania Ubwani, Arusha

The World Bank supported Lake Victoria
Environment Management Programme
(LVEMP), launched in the mid-1990s,
will now be extended to Burundi and Rwanda.

Its second phase, initially confined to
Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya because
they share the vast water body, will now
cover the two states which became
members of the East African
Community in 2007.

Implementation of the LVEMP II started
last month after the signing of
financial agreements between Tanzania,
Uganda and Kenya and the World Bank
as well as between the Bretton Woods
institution with the EAC.

Under the World Bank's Adaptable
Programme Lending (APL)), the financing
arrangement for the eight-year programme
has been split into three parts.

APL1 has received support of the IDA
(the development arm of the World Bank)
amounting to $90 million (Sh119.2 billion)
for the initial four years.

This will only involve Tanzania ($ 32.5 million),
Uganda ($27.5 million) and Kenya ($30 million).

The component would also be financed
by the Global Environment Facility- GEF
($ 7 million), Swedish International
Development Agency -Sida ($10 million)
and borrowers (about $7.8 million
equivalent in local currencies).

EAC sources say the GEF and Sida support
would mainly finance activities at
the regional level where the project
would fall under the supervision of
the Lake Victoria Basin Commission
(LVBC), an institution under the EAC.

APL 2, with grant support of $30 million,
will bring Burundi and Rwanda
into the programme.

Its preparations are expected to be
finalised by December 31, this year.
Although they do not share the lake,
the two countries are within
the broader Lake Victoria Basin.

Other major projects being implemented
around the lake in collaboration with
LVBC are EAC/AMREF Lake Victoria
HIV/Aids Partnership Programme
(EALP) and the Mt Elgon Regional
Ecosystem Conservation
Programme (MERECP).

Yet another is the Lake Victoria Water
and Sanitation Project supported
by the United Nations Human
Settlements Programme (UN Habitat).
It covers 15 urban centres around
the lake, three from each partner state.

According to an EAC report, the project
consultants, Mr Mott MacDonald of UK,
have prepared draft investment plans
for the 15 towns.

Discussions were underway with
various development partners
to fund the investments, it said.

"The African Development Bank (AfDB)
has indicated an availability of $565 million
(Sh748.6 billion) for the purpose,"
said the report.

It will be presented to the EAC Council
of Ministers one of its
policy organs - meeting in Arusha.

The AfDB has also provided $495,000
for a detailed pre-investment
analysis/study of the Maritime
Communications for Safety
on Lake Victoria.

This is a project whose implementation
would be based on public/private partnership.

Last September the US Government
granted $3 million to the EAC to support
the management and conservation
of the Mara river basin as
a trans-boundary resource.

The project covers the famous
Serengeti National Park and
Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya.

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--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda