Ministry attracts rare praise from matatu operators

Matatu owners are in a rare acknowledgement mood and are praising the Roads ministry for a job well done.

Almost all operators admit there are tangible infrastructure developments the government has invested in which have had a direct impact on their pockets.

Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai told Saturday Nation that better roads across the country had reduced the cost of maintaining vehicles and operators no longer had to replace parts as often as they used to do in the past.

Mr Kimutai said they now replaced parts like bushes, which used to last a month, after six months or more and shock absorbers which needed changing after every two months, were now a long term expense.

“Our vehicles were often declared unroadworthy by the police yet it was the roads that were not worthy of our vehicles. Today, there is tremendous improvement and where the roads are bad, contractors are at work,” he said.

Other motorists are of the same opinion. They said while they used to drive for the whole day to Nairobi from Mombasa, for instance, the journey now takes six hours.

Their verdict: the government has and is doing a commendable job in road construction.

Drive a whole day

Indeed, hardly a week ago, President Kibaki officially launched the construction of bypasses and other missing road links.

The northern and eastern bypasses project is being implemented at a cost of Sh8.5 billion, with the Chinese Government providing 85 per cent of the financing through a concessional loan.

“These projects will not only address the daily challenge of traffic congestion, but also underscore Nairobi’s position as a regional economic hub,” said the President.

The northern bypass is 31 kilometres long and starts from Ruaka trading centre on Limuru Road, overpasses Banana Road to Closeburn farm.

It then passes through Kahawa West and Kamae to Ruiru to join the eastern bypass.

The eastern bypass, which is 39 kilometres long, links Thika Road to Mombasa Road near City Cabanas Restaurant.

In last year’s economic outlook, construction was singled as the only other sector besides education that registered growth.

It grew by 8.3 per cent in 2008, up from 6.9 per cent in 2007.

Roads permanent secretary Michael Kamau told the Saturday Nation that the ministry’s focus was on key regional connectivity both nationally and internationally.

In Nairobi, the ministry has completed the road from the city centre to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, recarpeted Valley Road, Processional Way and the road linking Runda to United Nations Avenue, saving diplomats from UNEP and American Embassy the trouble of using Limuru Road and Ruaka Road.

In Central Province, Mr Kamau said the ministry has repaired the Makutano-Embu road proceeding to Meru.

“We have also finished the widening and lighting of the Nairobi-Kiambu road,” he said.

In Nyanza, the Dori-Owidi to Lwanda Kotieno stretch connecting the road from Bondo to the lake has been completed and people from Mfangano Island can now easily transport their fish Nairobi.

An eyesore

The ministry has also repaired the road from Kericho to Kisii.

“The 100 km Mahi Mahiu-Narok road has taken us a bit of time but we are about to finish. From Narok towards Kaplong, it is already made to bitumen standard,” said Mr Kamau.

Another project, the Kisii-Chemosit road which was an eyesore for almost 20 years, has been completed.

In Eastern Province, work has been completed on the road between Wote and Makindu.

“From Machakos, one can now drive comfortably to Wote and on to Makindu, evading the hassles of using Mombasa Road,” said Mr Kamau.

In Coast Province, the road from Malindi to Mombasa and on to Likoni has been done to bitumen standard. The roads in Mombasa Town were repaired during the Mombasa Marathon.

Work on the section between Likoni and Diani is progressing well with contractors now dealing with the section from Ukunda.

Work has also started on a section of Mariakani-Kilifi road which will act as a bypass and once complete, people travelling to Malindi will not have to go to Mombasa but will join the bypass and come off at Mabueni.

In North Eastern Province, roads have been in an atrocious condition for a long time.

But recently, Kenya Roads Board officials drove from Nairobi to Mandera and through Lamu to Moyale to assess its status.

It was established that apart from the sections between Moyale and Turbi, which the PS says will be improved, the rest of the road is passable.

There are also several road construction projects going on under the rural roads programme, with agricultural areas targeted for improvement.

Big comeback

Mr Kamau said this was made possible because of an increment in the ministry’s budgetary allocations over the years.

He said after 2002, the ministry started receiving meaningful funding and the government has since maintained the tempo in spite of the many competing demands.

Today, the ministry has a Sh75 billion road construction budget, up from a paltry Sh19 billion it was allocated in 2002.

This increase, despite being eroded by constant price rises of construction materials, is significant.

“Development partners, which include the African Development Bank, European Union, World Bank, Arab Bank for Development of East Africa and Cida to mention a few, have also made a big comeback with grants and loans,” said Mr Kamau.

The PS said the 2007 post-election violence dealt a major blow to the ministry’s plans as roads, bridges and other infrastructure were destroyed and needed to be repaired.

The ministry has, however, faced problems of encroachment, poor planning and an ill-equipped construction industry.

Mr Kamau said Kenya lacked competent indigenous contractors and has had to largely rely on foreign companies.

“We must develop our own capacity which we can even export. We have the engineers who should join forces and set up huge construction companies. It is a busy industry,” he said.

Water for road construction projects roads is also a problem, according to the PS.

With most rivers at unprecedented low levels, construction companies can no longer rely on them and are forced to travel long distances in search of water.

“We don’t just use any water. It has to be of a certain quality and that presents us with a major challenge. That is why we are drilling boreholes for the Isiolo-Merile construction project,” said Mr Kamau.

The ministry will sink 20 boreholes between Merile river and Turbi and after the road is complete, they will be handed over to the communities.
The PS also said security was a challenge, especially in banditry-prone areas in North Eastern Province.

He said that nobody “wants to drive a grader with a bullet proof vest” while on site.

“We will have to build police posts along the roads to protect road crews against bandits,” he said.

Other challenges include land use policy, especially where there are no clear demarcations for locations of, say, quarries and land for development.