JOY THAT IS ANTICIPATED BY EAC MEMBERS AS THE RUSINGA CAUSEWAY IS DEMOLISHED

It’s been five years since I last visited Rusinga Island, my maternal home. This was after my late grandmother’s burial. In her life, she gave me beautiful memories of the region which I still treasure and value too date. 
Last weekend, I travelled back to my beautiful mother land. I noticed there were some changes in the region. The major change that caught my attention was the construction of a modern fly-over bridge that will replace the Mbita-Rusinga causeway. The second change was increase in the price of fish: 1kg of fish now costs Ksh 400. That is quite expensive, being that the source of fish is just in the midst.

Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes, and the second largest lake in the world covering 68,800 km2. The lake is shared by Kenya (6% by area), Uganda (43%) and Tanzania (51%). It has a mean depth of 40m, maximum depth of 84m, shoreline of 3,450km, a water retention time of 140 years and a catchment area of 194,200km2, which extends into Rwanda and Burundi.

Lake Victoria is one of the greatest resources of EAC. It is providing employment, income, and export earnings to the East African Community members. It is also a source of clean water, which has always been taken by my community without any treatment required. It is used as a means for transport, by the famous ferry, boats. It is also a source of food (fish), tourist attraction, used for irrigation…name them.

In a report by the Ministry of Fisheries, in 1960s there were more than 400 types of fish which were of high commercial value in Lake Victoria. This number has considerably reduced, with the Nile Perch, tilapia, mudfish and dagaa referred as omena in my mother tongue, are the more common ones today.

A causeway is an elevated road or railway, usually across a broad body of water or wetland. The current causeway joining Rusinga to the mainland was built in 1983 by blocking a section of the lake. Even though the 200-metre structure seemed to have solved the problem to the community, it turned out to be of double-edged sword.

This causeway was built during a period of intense political activity, due to the political tention, there was no environmental assessment that was conducted. To note as well, National Environment Management Authtority (Nema) was not been constituted, that would assess the possible impact of the channel.

The modern fly over bridge will be 160 metres tall, with a 70-metre carriage width for vehicles, and two metres for pedestrians. The vehicles and pedestrians will use the upper side of the bridge while the larger boats will use the lower side.
DEMOLISH CAUSEWAY

Environmentalists, marine experts and Nema called for the demolition of the causeway, saying it had led to the deterioration of the quality of the water, which had high concentrations of industrial waste and pollutants. Nema was formed on July 1, 2002. 

They advocated for causeway to be demolished and replaced with a trade-off system, where an environmentally acceptable alternative link is provided to sustain the socio-economic activities between the island and the mainland. 

The causeway was built using rock and earth filling, which has permanently blocked a secondary connection between the Rusinga channel and the offshore waters of Lake Victoria. The lake’s cleansing capacity has been reduced because of lack of flushing and exchange of water between the two shores. This has also prevented the migration of fish and thereby, interfered with breeding patterns. Pollutants has also affected fish breeding and resulted in a gradual fall in  fish catches over the years.

The Gulf side which is Kisumu and Siaya waters, which covers 100km of the lake, was cut off from the main lake following the construction of the causeway. This interfered with the flow of water.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Homa Bay County has the largest portion of Lake Victoria in Kenya, and therefore, also leads in fishing. The causeway blocked the free movement of fish from the Tanzanian side of the lake to Winam Gulf. This causeway is a major ecological disaster as it further blocked the migration route for fish. This has resulted in the depletion of commercial fish stocks of species such as the Nile Perch and tilapia. 

According to a report by the ministry of fisheries, in Kenya. 60 per cent of Lake Victoria has been gazetted as a breeding zone for fish, but the area around Winam Gulf does not favor breeding, this is because fish eggs need light to breed. Fish deaths have been high, especially of Nile Perch, since the species requires a lot of oxygen and clear water to survive.

Riverine species on the Tanzanian side have also disappeared because there is no outlet from their breeding sites. All the inputs from rivers in the catchment area are emptied into Lake Victoria, but they are blocked at the causeway, forming algae deposits. 

The other side of the Mbita gulf has water with less silt but the water between Mbita and Kisumu is not safe for human consumption. 

The causeway has led to increased siltation, which has led to the proliferation of the water hyacinth on the Winam Gulf side. This means that all the rivers flowing from Lake Victoria deposit silt and other components into the Lake.

ECONOMY

According to the fisheries expert, there were more than 400 types of fish of high commercial value in Lake Victoria in the 1960s, but this number has been considerably reduced, with the Nile Perch, tilapia, mudfish and dagaa (omena) being the more common ones today. 

Migingo Island, which is enjoys fresh water away from the Mbita Gulf, has gained value and prominence as large stocks of popular fish has migrated there, and it had become an excellent breeding ground for many species. But this will only last for a moment!

The causeway is finally being demolished and will be replaced with a mdern steel bridge. This will be a major victory for EAC and a source of relief for residents, who are looking forward to its completion in late this year. I was told that the demolishing the causeway started in April 2013.

Once the construction of the bridge is completed, there will be restoration of water currents which will allow the free movement of fish from the shallow grounds which is their breeding sites to deeper waters.

CONCLUSION

The residents are thrilled with the fact that they will have enough fish stocks to sustain local production, as well as well as have some to send to other parts of the country. However they are paranoid on their security. I was having a conversation with my mum about the bridge under construction and Sh told me  that the residents fear that it will lead to insecurity in the region. More so, if someone is to use the bridge at night.