Controversy stalks State's Sh40b roads project

The Sh40 billion initiative by the Government to build 2,000 kilometres of road this year is attracting controversy, with some regions complaining of getting a raw deal.

Leaders from North Eastern region have petitioned the Ministry of Transport, protesting that out of the total kilometres of road to be built countrywide this year, the entire region will have only 84.5 kilometres of tarmac.

Under the allocation published by the ministry, Wajir County will have 47 kilometres of road to be tarmacked by the Kenya National Highways Authority, while Mandera will have 20 kilometres.

An additional 17.5 kilometres of urban roads in Garissa, Mandera and Wajir counties will be built by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority.

"The allocation of roads has not been done fairly. We ask that these skewed allocations be reviewed to correct the imbalances against historically marginalised areas.

"It is ironic that in other parts of the country, the Government is doing roads even in the remotest regions, but in North Eastern, even the main highways remain untarmacked," Wajir South MP Abdullahi Diriye said in a statement yesterday.

Wajir West MP Abdullahi Ore said under the current allocation, areas that had been traditionally well served in terms of roads would get more roads while under-served areas continued to be marginalised.

"For any meaningful development to be achieved, areas such as North Eastern must be opened up to give people access to markets, provide services, improve standards of living and integrate the region into the rest of the country," he said.

URBAN CENTRES

Mandera North MP Adan Nooru said roads in the expansive Mandera and Wajir counties had not been tarmacked since independence until this year, when their county governments launched the initiative for a few roads within urban centres.

Wajir Senator Abdirahman Ali appealed to the Government to recarpet the main road linking Garissa, Wajir and Mandera for economic development.

Infrastructure Principal Secretary John Mosonik said tenders for construction of the roads were set to be issued in the coming week and actual work is slated for December this year or January next year as some roads had already been designed.

Under this annuity programme, 2,000 kilometres of small roads will be complete within the 2014/2015 financial year.

In the 2015/2016 fiscal year, 3,000 kilometres comprising 80 per cent small roads and 20 per cent highways will be done and in  2016/2017, 5,000 kilometres will be completed.