Cabinet Secretary for roads and transport, Kipchumba Murkomen has highlighted the challenges he is encountering in his ministry.
He started by saying that his ministry was only allocated Sh46 billion instead of the Sh150 billion that is usually allocated to his ministry for development due to increased public debt.
Speaking at one media outlet in the country, the CS said the country has pending roads that would cost the government Sh700 billion to finish them all. He added that in the country at least every county has a road pending for construction.
In his defense, Murkomen added that as a way of ensuring pending roads are completed the ministry of transport has engaged different development partners.
“After negotiations, Chinese contractors are carrying up to Sh400 billion worth of the pending roads. Hopefully, the contractors will return to finish the pending road by March 2024 once development deals are signed. the CS said.
He went on to say that of the Sh150 billion pending bills in his ministry, about Sh40 billion goes to compensation of land owners, Sh60 billion goes to foreign contractors, and Sh30 billion goes to local contractors.
On the maintenance side, the CS said the ministry has used resources under the maintenance levy to improve various roads and infrastructure across Kenya. “Under the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), we have delivered 234 kilometers of roads across Kenya,” Murkomen said.
The Cabinet Secretary said that there is a drainage challenge along Mombasa Road, partly caused by how the road was constructed. This led to flooding at the airport during the El Nino season.
“We have asked the Kenya National Highways Authority to work closely with JKIA to ensure that the drainage system is not only along the road but also through the airport’s land since some of it is a natural watercourse way. Murkomen added.
On the airport blackouts, the CS said it is a systemic problem of poor investment and neglect by concerned parties. He went on to say human resources was a big issue, and he had a candid discussion with the former managing director, who told him the main problem at the airport was sabotage.
“The problem we are having at JKIA is terminal 1A and terminal 1E, while the rest were not affected by the blackout,” he said.
The CS said that by January, the ministry would have advertised the construction of a new airport terminal at JKIA.
