Special school in Voi to be brought down for SGR rail-road

Voi, Kenya: Voi Girls Rescue Centre will be relocated to pave way for the multi-billion shilling standard gauge railway (SGR) project, officials have said.

The school, with over 1,000 students is a rescue centre for girls who have been sexually abused.

Already, a 30-acre piece of land has been identified at Vindo Co-operative Society on the outskirts of Voi town, but is not clear when the relocation will be done.

Voi Sub-County Education Officer Kennedy Machora disclosed that the school will receive half a billion shillings from the Government if the negotiations are successful.

"The secondary school is one of the institutions that will be brought down to enable construction of the Sh327 billion SGR project. Negotiations between various stakeholders on the process of relocating the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) sponsored school are at advanced stage," said Mr Machora.

Other schools to be affected include Msharinyi Primary School and Mbele Primary School in the neighbouring Kwale County.

Though located in Kwale, Mbele Primary is administered from Taita-Taveta, currently locked in a boundary dispute with Kwale.

The region will accommodate 200 kilometres of the railway line, stretching from Mackinnon Road to Mtito Andei Airstrip.

MODERN FACILITY

The institution is one of the modern public institutions in the region, with over 750 learners in forms one to three. Voi CDF has so far sunk over Sh35 million into the school, while the county government has disbursed Sh5 million.

Speaking to the Press after a meeting with top Kenya Railway and SGR officials in Voi town, Machora said the railway line will pass along the fence of the school for a distance of over 300 metres.

"We have started negotiations with all the relevant stakeholders to find a solution to the fate of the school. Given the proximity of the school to the railway line, learning will be impossible. The school must be relocated to an environment that will be conducive to the learners," he said.

NOISE POLLUTION

Last week, senior officials from Kenya Railway and officers overseeing the SGR project met with various stakeholders to discuss the fate of the school and other buildings on the path of the rail road.

The meeting, chaired by Deputy County Commissioner Khamasi Shivogo was attended by the school's Board of Management (BoG), Parents and Teachers Association (PTA), officials from the Education Office, CDF officers and the sub-county Education Board.

 

It was agreed that the level of noise pollution from trains would make learning impossible.

At the same time the stakeholders noted the implementation of the project would hinder the school's management from acquiring more land for future expansion.

Rescue centre

"The institution was established as rescue centre for sexually abused girls, but we have learnt that might not be tenable, with the rail road passing right next to it," noted Machora.

They resolved to have an ultra-modern institution that will have five streams and house over 1,250 learners.

The proposed institution will have 25 classrooms, 15 teachers' houses, four laboratories, two libraries, a modern administration block, dining hall, swimming pool, kitchen and assorted fields for various games.

It will also have a borehole.

Locals whose property has been affected by the project have already received Sh5.6 billion in compensation.