THE Lake Victoria Basin Commission has begun the process of rehabilitating the polluted Kisat river in Kisumu.

Speaking yesterday at the conclusion of a series of consultative meetings in Kisumu, LVBC principal administrative officer Odeth Bateta said various stakeholders are needed to jointly implement the project saying it would benefit many.

"At the end of this project, transporters, fishermen, industrialists, water users and other members of the private sector will work in a less polluted, more comfortable and profitable city," she said.

Speaking on behalf of the LVBC Executive Secretary, Canisius Kanangire, said the consultative meetings brought together interested parties who all contributed to recommendations arrived at in river Kisat's rehabiliation project.

River Kisat is a four kilometer river in Kisumu that flows through farmland, informal settlements and part of the industrial area, before discharging its waters into Lake Victoria at Kisumu Bay.

It faces pollution from municipal waste from the Kisat conventional sewage treatment plant, industrial waste, dirt from surrounding informal settlements, oil and mechanical waste from informal car garages and molasses waste from informal alcohol brewing sites.

Participants thanked LVBC for spearheading the idea of the river's rehabilitation saying they will fully participate in its implementation.

LVBC's senior operations officer Lily Kisaka, who is coordinating the project preparation efforts, informed stakeholders that the Commission intends to finalise the projects concept by early March 2013. She said resource mobilisation will begin immediately thereafter.