Transport ministry eyes private sector to help construct new roads

The Ministry of Transport is working on a policy document that will bring on board private developers to help meet the country’s infrastructural needs.PHOTO: COURTESY

The Ministry of Transport is working on a policy document that will bring on board private developers to help meet the country’s infrastructural needs.

John Mosonik, the State Department for Infrastructure Principal Secretary, while addressing journalists in Kisumu yesterday on status of roads in Nyanza and Western Kenya said there is a growing demand for roads in Kenya which the Government alone cannot meet with its budget.

“Inadequate financial resources and capacity constraints pose a major challenge in the delivery of good roads, contributing to the ever increasing infrastructure gap currently estimated at Sh100 billion per year,” Mosonik said.

He added that appropriate policies and legislative framework are necessary in order to bridge the financial gap through attraction of private capital for development and management of roads, ports and railways. He said that the total value of road improvements and maintenance initiatives being undertaken in Nyanza and Western regions is Sh146 billion and covers 2670 km.

“In addition, three one-stop border posts have been constructed at a cost of Sh1.5 billion,” he added. Mosonik said that the policy paper that would incorporate the private sector is already being discussed at the Cabinet level, and it should be ready in the next one month.

“Before we invite private investors, we must have clear guidelines on how they would be coming in. That is the reason we will convene an investors’ conference in November,” Mosonik said. The State Department of Infrastructure is tasked with delivery of 10,000 km of newly paved roads during the first term of the Jubilee administration.

USER CHARGES

According to Mosonik, 607km of rural roads and 176 km of urban roads have been upgraded to bitumen standard since 2013 through conventional financing and procurement with 900 km of contracted national, rural and urban roads set to be upgraded to bitumen standard in the next three years.

Mosonik came to the defense of the government’s road tolling policy which has been viewed by many as double-taxation saying the objective of tolling is to adopt ‘User Pay’ principle to raise additional funds.

“The tolling policy provides that road tolls will be applied only where it is economically and financially beneficial, and where all relevant socio-economic implications have been fully taken into consideration,”  Mosonik said.

He said tolls may only be introduced on roads which have been improved from their previous conditions, or are of a higher quality and capacity than untolled roads or on roads that require ‘user charges’ to be financially viable.

High volume roads being targeted in the tolling policy are Mombasa-Nairobi, Nairobi-Thika, Nairobi Southern Bypass, and Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit. There is also a new bridge across Tudor Creek to connect Mombasa Island to Nyali.

The draft tolling policy, Mosonik said, has been reviewed and approved by the ministries under the Infrastructure cluster and is due to be presented to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.