Infrastructure Principal Secretary John Musonik (centre) when he
appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on August 22, 2013. The
cost of building roads has doubled because of paying compensation to
land owners, a principal secretary said on September 25, 2015 FILE PHOTO
|
NATION MEDIA GROUP
The cost of building roads has doubled because of paying compensation to land owners, a principal secretary said on Friday.
Ministry
of Roads and Infrastructure Principal Secretary John Musonik said that
buying the land for roads has become a problem, especially in Mombasa
and Nairobi.
He was speaking in Mombasa when he inspected work on the Changamwe roundabout-Moi International Airport Road.
He said the six-and-a-half kilometre stretch had a budget of Sh3 billion, but payments and valuation cost Sh6 billion.
“The
land cost is almost the same as that of building the road. The National
Land Commission valued the compensation at Sh2.1 billion. Public
utilities will take more than Sh200 million,” he said.
Valuation and other miscellaneous costs increase the amount to Sh6 billion, he said.
The PS said despite the cost, land owners will be compensated.
He,
however, warned those encroaching on road reserves in the hope of being
paid compensation that they would not be compensated and they will be
sued.
Work on the road started in May and is expected to be completed in 15 months.
The PS told the contractor, China Wu Yi Company, to meet the deadline.
“You must foresee any problems that may slow you down and deal with them early,” he said.
He said people who had been compensated for their land must leave now.
“Some people want to move when construction is close to them. They must move out immediately,” he said.
He asked the contractor to uphold quality standard specification.
The road would ease movement of goods into and out of the international airport.
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