Cost of road to go up over fuel prices

Tom Maruko | NATION
A section of the Nairobi-Thika highway at Globe roundabout under construction. Ministry of Roads has called Treasury into a crisis meeting on Thursday over escalating cost of building materials.

What you need to know:

  • This may also delay project completion scheduled for February next year

The escalating cost of fuel could increase the cost of completing the Nairobi-Thika highway.

This could result in further delay to completion of the Sh27 billion highway, which is scheduled for February next year.

Roads permanent secretary Michael Kamau said the government had a contingency plan to take care of such a predicament.

“If this project is delayed and the fuel prices continue behaving the way they are doing, then we have serious challenges on the amount of money we are going to pay on the variation on price,” the PS said while inspecting the construction progress.

He, however, said the project was nearly half-way done.

“After we changed the contractors, who were doing the re-routing of the water services, the progress level is at six per cent per month,” Mr Kamau said.

He said the contractors were working on the structural works — the underpasses and retaining walls — but had been set back by the current rains.

The PS urged the engineers to gear towards sectional completion of the road.

He noted that the Museum Hill interchange would be ready by July while the works at the Forest and Limuru roads junction were expected to be completed in August.

“We shall be using the flyovers and the traffic jam experienced there shall be eased,” he said, adding that street lights would be put up later.

The highway is expected to ease traffic congestion in the city. China Wu Yi Company, Sinohydro Corporation Ltd and Shengli Engineering Construction are building the highway.