Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) has
received a major boost after Uganda committed to ferry construction
materials and bulky transit goods through its networks.
The two states have agreed that the Naivasha-Malaba and Malaba-Kampala will be executed by Chinese contractors in 42 months.
“The
Republic of Uganda has committed to ensure that at least 80 per cent of
all cargo destined for Uganda will be transported by the SGR. The
details of the mechanisms will be discussed,” the two states said in
joint statement.
To the operator of SGR section, the
statement offers another veil of protection after the Kenya Ports
Authority also declared a policy to initially reserve 40 per cent of its
cargo for fast trains.
The two governments said 60 per
cent of rail inputs will be shipped in from China with up to 40 per
cent of quota being reserved for local companies in the two countries.
Kenya’s
technical team will provide assistance as well as train Ugandan
technicians and other workers on SGR construction technology.
Transport Secretary James Macharia said Kenya was keen
to extend the SGR facility to Malaba since Uganda had committed to
channeling 80 per cent of their export and imported goods via SGR.
Mr
Macharia spoke last week when he led top ministry officials to Uganda
for an inter-governmental meeting on the planned SGR extension project.
His
Uganda counterpart, Ms Monica Aruba, said Kampala was committed to
implementing the project which will be jointly funded by China’s export
and Import Bank (EXIM) at a cost of Sh230 billion.
Up
to 80 per cent of land along the proposed 273-kilometre Malaba-Kampala
SGR route has since been acquired with more funds allocated in this
year’s budget to acquire the remaining parcels of land.
On
its part, Kenya is currently putting up the 120 kilometre
Naivasha-Nairobi SGR at a cost of 150 billion while the Kisumu-Nairobi
SGR project will cost Sh 370billion.
Ms Aruba urged
Kenya to also solicit for funding of the Kisumu-Malaba SGR project to
facilitate faster completion of the project said to offer a much cheaper
alternative to road transport.
The SGR facility also
gives DRC, Rwanda and Burundi a new way to ferry goods to Mombasa for
export and also receive imports nearer home, thereby helping reduce
costs as well as time spent on the road.
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