Tana River County to rebuild roads destroyed by floods
The Boji-Minjila road in Tana River County which is being built by KeNHA. The county government will use more than Sh50 million to rehabilitate roads that were damaged by floods during the heavy rains in May. PHOTO | STEPHEN ODUOR | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The county has already put in place plans to rehabilitate roads in Tana Delta in villages that were affected by the floods.
- These include Gamba, Hewani, Wema, Kulesa, Sailoni, Kinyadu, Mkomani, Salama, Mnazini and Kitere.
- KeNHA and has already done more than 300km up to Waldena from Kitui.
The Tana River County government is set to use more than Sh50 million to rehabilitate roads that were damaged by floods during the heavy rains in May.
In an interview with the Nation, the county's Roads executive member Stephen Wachira said the administration has already put in place plans to rehabilitate roads in Tana Delta in villages that were affected by the floods. These include Gamba, Hewani, Wema, Kulesa, Sailoni, Kinyadu, Mkomani, Salama, Mnazini and Kitere.
'We have mapped out the plans to rehabilitate the roads in the respective areas so that these can serve as a better alternative to the ones that were completely destroyed by floods," he said.
FUEL LEVY
Mr Wachira said the road construction scheduled to be done using fuel levy funds will be on course starting next month, as the administration has already sent out advertisements to interested contractors.
He said the roads will also serve as the alternative to the road from Gamba to Masalani built by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) and which was totally destroyed by floods in May.
Mr Wachira said the road will also serve as the ideal detour for investment because it is far from the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (Tarda) canals which always burst during floods.
LONG DISTANCE
"Commuters will no longer have to worry about the long distance travel as this road is also going to serve as a short cut and also as an ideal detour for investment, "he said.
Further, Mr Wachira said the county administration in partnership with the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) has started the construction of the Hola main road B89 through Wayu, Kitui, Machakos and finally Nairobi.
The road is expected to reduce the distance travelled by 220km with the administration marshalling communities living along the road to provide labour.
“We as the county government are marshalling our people to provide required labour and materials that can easily be sourced from within,” he said.
He said KeNHA and has already done more than 300km up to Waldena from Kitui, while the county team has started working from the Hola to Wayu, Wayu Boro through to Wayu Duka.
