Source: Xinhua|Editor: huaxia

NAIROBI--Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday hailed the Chinese-backed Thwake dam as he inspected its construction progress in Makueni County, eastern Kenya.

The project is being built by China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) at the intersection of the rivers Thwake and Athi. It has been funded by the government through the Ministry of Water in cooperation with the Development Bank in Africa.

Kenyatta said that when completed the project will boost the local economy through a irrigation plan, mitigate drought and be an answer to the perennial flood problems in the lowlands.

Thwake dam, a strategic water supply project for the large semi-arid area of Makueni County and surrounding regions, comprises a multi-purpose dam for water supply, hydropower generation and irrigation development.

It will also provide regulation of flows on Athi River downstream of the dam for flood and drought mitigation.

The completion of the 80.5-meter high multi-purpose dam will enable the storage of 681 million cubic meters of water, of which 625 million cubic meters will be used for electricity production and downstream irrigation of agricultural land, 22 million cubic meters for upstream irrigation and 34 million for human use.

Construction of the first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 and over 1,160 residents already have benefited from employment opportunities.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service