Makueni to build 40MW solar plant, increase irrigated land

Makueni County is set to construct a 40 Megawatt solar plant which will assist in increasing electricity access from the current 5.9 percent to 40 percent.This is according to the county’s just released Vision 2025 plan.The photovoltaic plant will be constructed in Kavuko in Kilome sub-county. It shall also be connected to the national grid.Plans are also in place to expand area covered by irrigation schemes to 10,000 hectares through the use of existing upgrades and new plans. This is bound to benefit the county which is predominantly agricultural with 78 percent of households relying on it for income.

“The county will also construct six major dams, each 10 million cubic meters, one for each sub- county complete with treatment plants, storage and distribution network,” the county said.Broken down, each dam will have capacity to serve 5,000 households and a minimum irrigation area of 500 hectares. This however excludes Thwake dam being undertaken as a national project.There are also plans to divide the county into five economic zones that will see different areas serve different purposes. For instance, Wote town will be the administrative centre while Makindu town will serve as a cultural zone.

On the other hand, Mtito Andei will be the hospitality and the education centre, while Emali and Sultan Hamud towns will be the industrial zones. Konza Techno City in Malili will remain as the ICT hub.Statistically, Makueni has a population of about one million people with an employment rate of 7 percent.As far as property is concerned, undeveloped property – vacant plots – is at 55 percent, with the proportion of households with title deeds standing at 19.8 percent. At the same time, basic sanitation in the county stands at 0.9 percent.

Source:capitalfm