Leaders want Gilgil weighbridge removed

County leaders and traders have called for the relocation of the Gilgil weighbridge.

The traders blamed the weighbridge, located on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway, for the recent snarl-ups on the road, saying the county was losing millions of shillings and man hours every weekend.

This comes after last weekend's incident where hundreds of passengers were stranded for over 10 hours at the weighbridge.

The traffic that stretched for over 10km on both side of the weighbridge was caused by overlapping trailers, and tens of motorists heading back to Nairobi from up-country.

Nakuru National Chamber of Commerce and Industry branch Chairman Kamau Njuguna said the weighbridge had become a deterrent to investors.

Addressing the Press on Wednesday in Naivasha, Mr Njuguna said the crisis had adversely affected the tourism sector.

He said tourists were now shunning the highway, adding that the weekend incident saw some tourists miss their flights.

"We are deeply concerned by the crisis on this section of the road. The highway should be expanded as one way of addressing this problem," he said.

Nakuru Youth Forum Chairman Charles Mburu questioned the timing of the jams which occur on weekends.