President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta during the launch of the standard gauge railway project at Changamwe, Mombasa, in November. Photo/Kevin Odit
By George Omondi, omondi@ke.nationmedia.com
IN SUMMARY
Financial and legal hurdles hit Sh3trn transport, technology projects.
Infrastructure projects key to moving Kenya to a newly industrialised economy are set to be fast-tracked this year after legal, logistical and financial challenges slowed them down last year.
The projects with a combined purse of more than Sh3 trillion target railways, ports, pipelines, roads, energy, ICT and agriculture improvements and include the Sh600 billion Mombasa-Malaba standard gauge railway, the Sh56 billion Greefield Terminal at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the Sh1.2 trillion Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor.
The three were started last year as challenges stalled progress on the Sh850 billion Konza technology city, the Dongo Kundu free port, the Integrated Transport Management System, and the purchase of new ferries.
Government officials are, however, upbeat that teething problems have been addressed and 2014 will be the year of action.
“The pace at which government agencies and our regional partners are developing the various components of LAPSSET has encouraged us to choose June as the date to start actual construction of the (Lamu) port,” LAPSSET director-general Sylvester Kasuku said.
The Lamu initiative has been allocated Sh4.3 billion with more expected when the Budget for the next financial is finalised.
Under LAPSSET the Kenya Highways Authority is working on the 505km Moyale-Isiolo road with the Marsabit-Turbi section almost halfway finished. Mr Kasuku said the railway line, airport and special economic zone which are part of the LAPSSET corridor are either at planning or design stage.
There are fears, however, that the civil strife in South Sudan and inadequate budgetary allocation could slow the projects’ implementation.
While the Kenyan side has moved swiftly with funding of World Bank and African Development Bank, the clashes in Juba erupted just days after the South Sudan government settled on a financier for its portion.
The construction of the initial phase of the Konza technology park that was to begin this month has been postponed indefinitely pending passage of a legal framework by Parliament to enable promoters mobilise funds.
“We cannot kick off full-scale external fund-raising for phase one of the project before the law is in place,” said Konza Technopolis Development Authority board chairman John Ngumi.
READ: Legal vacuum delays work on Kenya’s technology city
The agency has to date been allocated Sh1.3 billion against a budget of Sh63.8 billion needed for phase one, meaning external financing will be key.
Progress on Konza therefore lies in the hands of the National Assembly.
No comments :
Post a Comment