Ban farming around lake Naivasha to eradicate water hyacinth - Mututho

Picha: Maktaba

Former Naivasha Mp John Mututho now wants farming on riparian land around Lake Naivasha banned as one way of eradicating the water hyacinth that has choked the water body.

Mututho who chaired the parliamentary committee on agriculture during his tenure said that there were high levels of nitrates in the lake from the nearby farms.

“The weed breeds well in places that have levels of nitrates and for us to deal with it we have to address the issue of pollution in the lake,” he said.

Mututho who is also NACADA chairman has warned that the troubled lake is destined for doom if no action is taken urgently.

The revelations comes a couple of days after a group of tourists and journalists were trapped by the invasive weed for over four hours forcing area fishermen to come to their rescue.

Addressing the press on Sunday in Naivasha, Mututho noted that the weed blossomed well in areas where nitrates levels were high.

Mututho said that it was obvious that effluents from the flower farms and the sewer plant were finding their way in to the lake.

“We conducted investigations which revealed that there were very high levels of nitrate in the lake which come from chemicals used by the farms and the sewer plant,” he said.