Faster road-making model out
What you need to know:
- If implemented, roads would be built 10 times faster than in the traditional ways.
- Mr Moses Muihia, the chairman of the Kenya Federation of Master Builders hailed the idea though he had reservations.
The government has launched a new model of financing projects that officials believe will make road construction faster and uninterrupted.
The method called Annuity Financing Framework will see contractors taking on road construction agreements, but will look for ways of financing the projects and be recompensed when they complete the work.
It is a departure from tradition where contractors have either been paid before work or received payments as they did the construction.
On Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta told a gathering in Nairobi that the method which was first mooted last year would ensure projects were not delayed by budgeting bureaucracy.
“Foremost among the beneficiaries is the taxpayer: The programme focuses on value for every tax shilling,” the President told an audience at the Infrastructure Development Stakeholders Conference at the KICC.
“It achieves this by ensuring performance and the generation of synergies from cooperation among stakeholders. It guarantees faster and more efficient construction while reducing administrative costs.”
If implemented, roads would be built 10 times faster than in the traditional ways.
President Kenyatta said 10,000km of roads could be paved by 2018 compared to just 14,000km since 1963.
He said the first 2,000km, mainly small roads, will be paved in this Financial Year. This will be followed by another 5,000km and the phases will go on till 2018.
'WE NEED ASSURANCE'
Mr Moses Muihia, the chairman of the Kenya Federation of Master Builders hailed the idea though he had reservations.
“It is a good model but how practical is it? The basic thing here is financing and it will be interesting to see if banks will be ready for it,” he said after the conference.
He represents an association of about 2,500 small and medium contractors who usually face financial challenges to complete projects.
“We need assurance that credit conditions will be good. I hope there will be more discussions on this,” he added.
The government says this arrangement will be a sort of performance contracting.
Contractors will be paid through a fixed periodical system known as annuity rather than through toll proceeds.
The government hopes to eliminate cases of contractors abandoning work.
