Kenya, Netherlands ink deal on water services

The Netherlands government has extended a grant facility amounting to 275,738 Euros to Kenya for the expansion of water access, a senior government official said on Monday. National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich told journalists in Nairobi that the funds will support the design phase of a water project in western Kenya. "The grant facility by the Dutch government will meet half the cost of the design as the rest will be met by the Kenyan government," Rotich said. He noted that some parts of the Kenya face various challenges of accessing quality drinking water even though they receive adequate rainfall. "The challenge is lack of infrastructure to harvest and to distribute water to needy Kenyans," he said. According to Rotich, Kenya has a slow absorption rate for donor funds. "We are working at increasing the absorption rate from 50 percent to 80 percent in the short term," he said. Netherlands Ambassador to Kenya Joost Reintjes said that his country will continue to assist Kenya due to the warm bilateral ties.