From the next financial year every constituency will be allocated Kshs 27 million for rural roads construction, said the minister of roads, Hon Frankline Bett during a Ministerial Stakeholder Forum (MSF) that was hosted by Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) with the Ministry of Roads.
This funds will go along way to create job opportunities for various communities. Women are encouraged to take an active roll in road construction which was allocated Kshs 104 billion in last year budget to meet 30 percent affirmative global requirement.
The Minister reiterated the importance of the government and private sector working together, acknowledging that the sector is capital intensive and the government requires support from the private sector and development partners to provide the much needed funds.
Bett challenged local developers to engage in private road construction in collaboration with the government – where they will charge road usage fee to recoup their capital and make a profit for a greed period of time.
He mentioned some of the challenges that his ministry encounters from the long and rigorous approval process for the contractors, the unpredictable weather conditions that the country continues to experience, the infringement on public land by some private developers leading to long and costly courts cases and the abuse of road safety rules by the public.
He requested the private sector to be proactive and encourage their members to obey traffic rules to avoid the high number of accidents. Removal of road signs contribute to increased road accidents and damping of wastes along the road drainage system should be refrained by the public for it leads to faster road wearing, the minister said. “Road furniture's should be respected. The ministry of roads can take 45 percent of accident responsibility while drivers contribute to the 55 percent of their occurrence.”
Bett emphasized that any constructions on government land reserves will be demolished but after due consultation and notification to those affected. He informed the meeting that the Public Private Partnership Policy Paper has been drafted and discussions are going on in parliament on the same to provide legislation in the Roads sector.
However, Eng Patrick Obath, KEPSA, Chairman, said that the on going road projects are not streamlined within the various infrastructure sectors to prevent interruptions to other key services of the economy. Obath called various ministries to work together to ensure that normal service provision of utilities like water, electricity, telecommunications, Internet and drainage systems run smoothly even as the constructions go on. He added that the Railway transport should be integrated with the Road transport in the long term to ensure that heavy transportation is restricted to the Railway system to prevent wearing down of roads.
The government's ambitious dream to uplift our roads to world class is noble. But we are not moving in resonance with the vision we have embraced, said Mr. Elijah Agevi, KEPSA Road Sector Board Chair, adding:Rural roads development have been left behind notwithstanding their importance in opening and harnessing the huge potential in rural areas.
There is a need for a National Investment Master plan beyond the sectoral master plans to ensure that not only that government ministries are working in coordination but to also provide investors, both local and international with information on investment areas and periods of investments, said Carole Kariuki, KEPSA CEO.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Eng. M.S.M. Kamau challenged the meeting on whether Kenya was prepared for an infrastructure disaster similar to the recent earth quake and tsunami in Japan. He said the ministry realized the importance of partnerships with effective coordination and hence the engagement with the private sector. He said the ministry was undertaking various activities to increase efficiencies including seeking for additional funds through introduction of infrastructure bonds with related sectors, rational priorities, enhancing axle load controls, training of local contractors and consultants so that they undergo performance evaluations among other activities.
The Vice Chairperson of KEPSA, Lucy Karume reminded the government to make provision for the ‘boda boda’ and other cyclists in the road sector infrastructure as these are cheaper options that Kenyans could take to decongest the traffic on the roads.
Karume called upon the transport ministry to ensure that driving refresher courses are adapted for license renewal every three years.
No comments:
Post a Comment