Worry for transporters as Sh320m Maungu lorry park woes deepen

Maungu lorry park in Taita Taveta County. [File, Standard]

The multi-million-shilling Maungu lorry park in Taita Taveta, which was supposed to reduce congestion in the town and increase the county’s revenue collection, is underutilised. 

The facility was built by the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTT) at a cost of over Sh320 million. 

Local leaders and logistics experts say the facility is lying idle and failing to serve its intended purposes. 

Taita Taveta County Assembly Trade Committee Vice-Chairperson Stephen Nzai noted that the facility, located in Maungu town on the busy Nairobi-Mombasa highway and intended to serve as a resting point for long-distance truck drivers, is underperforming despite heavy investment by the national government. 

He said the facility is facing numerous challenges, and there is an urgent need to revive it to boost revenue collection. 

“The county government has not met its revenue collection targets, and once the facility is revived, it will boost collection,” said Nzai. 

The facility is located along the Mombasa–Voi transit section, about 30km before Voi town, and is currently managed by private operators. 

The park, which has a capacity of about 150 trucks, has lodges, a medical facility and restaurants. 

Nzai said the facility has a poor drainage system and lacks electricity and water, as well as other infrastructure.

A recent survey revealed that the park’s water supply system has broken down. It also lacked a designated parking area for trucks carrying dangerous goods, basic firefighting equipment, and trucks parking along the highway at Maungu, despite having a well-paved park. 

“There are also a small number of washrooms compared to the capacity of the facility. The challenges highlighted were shared with the county commissioner and county government,” stated Nzai yesterday.  He said the facility, which was built to decongest Maungu town and support long-distance truck drivers, was officially opened in 2015. 

It has a 182-lorry capacity, 70 guest rooms, and 24 stalls, aiming to connect Kenya to regional markets. 

“The facility can generate enough revenue for the county, but it is facing management challenges. Owing to low usage by truck drivers, it has contributed to low revenue generation as it is currently being underutilised,” noted Nzai.  Figures from the trade department indicate that the facility generates Sh8,000 daily but has the potential to generate more if fully utilised.  Meanwhile, the county and the national governments have formed a joint resource mobilisation team to help plug corruption loopholes and boost internal revenue collection. 

The House Majority Leader Halifa Taraya disclosed that, following the formation of the joint committee, the county government has made remarkable progress in revenue collection.  The Mboghoni Ward Representative previously revealed that the executive collected Sh7 million per week, but it is now generating more than Sh17 million, which is remarkable progress in revenue collection.  Alleged graft and misuse of public funds by the county administration have severely affected the delivery of quality services to the public.

“The on-source revenue has remained resilient and continues to reflect renewed efficiency in revenue mobilisation by the team,” stated Taraya.

In addition, Senator Jones Mwafruma declared that he will continue to fulfil his oversight role to establish how the revenue collected has been declining at an alarming rate in the county.

“I am deeply concerned over the declining collection of own-source revenue and will continue to fulfil my oversight role to ensure money collected and funds coming from the national government are spent for the intended purposes and not by individuals who have no interest in the public at heart,” stated Mwafruma.