Residents
of Nairobi’s Eastlands will have an easier time accessing the city centre once
a road expansion project launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday is
completed. The Sh13 billion initiatives will see Outer Ring Road converted into
a six-lane highway with interchanges and over-passes as well as the
construction of 10 Eastern missing links.
Of
the total, Sh8.5 billion will go towards expansion of the 13-kilometre Outer
Ring Road while the rest will finance setting up of the missing links covering
about 16 kilometres. The two projects are funded by the African Development
Bank and the European Union in partnership with the government.
The
roads will also have footpaths and cycle lanes. The project is estimated to be
completed in 36 months. At the launch on Thursday, President Kenyatta ordered
implementing agencies to make sure that the work is completed within the set
time-frame without compromising quality.
“The
contractors must stick to the time-frame and give first priority to the local
youths while hiring workers,” President Kenyatta said.
Uhuru
was accompanied by African Development bank Director Gabriel Nagatu, Nairobi Senator
Mike Sonko among other government officials. The project that was officialy
launched by Uhuru dates back to November 23 2011 when Sonko (then Makadara MP)
raised a question in Parliament through a private notice to the then Roads
minister Franklin Bett on traffic conjection along Outer ring Road.
Below
is the verbatim Hansard of Parliament how Sonko’s question led to the commissioning
of the road’s upgrade yesterday by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
· Mr. Speaker
Next Question by hon.
Member for Makadara.
· TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON OUTER RING ROAD
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg
to ask the Minister for Roads the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Is
the Minister aware of the frequent traffic snarl-ups on Outer Ring Road,
especially at the Donholm and Kariobangi roundabouts, and what immediate and
long- term measures will the Government take to remedy the problem? (b) What is
the extent of losses, both in man hours and economically, resulting from the
delays?
· Page 8 of Hansard 23.11.11P
· Franklin
Bett (The Minister for Roads)
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg
to reply. (a) I am aware of the frequent snarl-ups on Outering Road and
especially at Donholm and Kariobangi roundabouts. To address the problem, my
Ministry through the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) has procured a
consultant to undertake the designs for expansion of Outer Ring Road, including
improvement of the junctions into interchanges. The designs are expected to be
completed by March, 2012. (b) According to statistics available to me from
Japan International Corporation (JICA) on transport master plan for Nairobi
Metropolitan, Outer Ring Road is one of the roads that have the highest volumes
in the City with over 87,000 vehicles per day. It is estimated that 348,169 man
hours are lost on Outer Ring Road every day while the financial loss is
estimated at Kshs2.8 million per day. The Government is not able to compensate
road users for losses arising from congestion. However, the Government has
taken a lot of interest on this road and other roads in the country. That is
why a lot of effort is being put into improving our infrastructure. Therefore,
I urge all stakeholders to exercise patience and understanding as we address
the issues.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I
appreciate the good work that the Minister and his team, especially the
Director General, KURA, Mr. Nkadayo, for what they are doing in Makadara and
the entire Nairobi in general. They have recarpeted all the roads in Makadara and
Nairobi County is now like New York. The by-passes are all over. My question to
the Minister is; since Outering Road links Juja Road, Mumias-South Road in
Buruburu within my constituency, Kangundo Road, Jogoo Road, Lunga Lunga Road
within my constituency and Airport North Road which links to Mombasa Road---
The Minister has admitted that they have engaged a consultant---
· Mr. Speaker
Order, hon. Member for
Makadara! Come to the Question. I thought you were already there.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am
coming to my Question. Since the Minister has admitted that they have engaged a
consultant to design this busy Outering Road, could he give an undertaking to
this House on when the expansion of this is going to commence?
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want
to thank the hon. Member for the compliments that he has given to my Ministry
and my officers. The consultant is due to conclude his work on March, 2012.
Soon after that, we are already engaging in discussions with a possible
financier, that is, the African Development Bank (ADB), and they have already
indicated that they are willing to put aside Kshs3 billion for the expansion of
that road into a dual carriageway. I want to indicate that it will be a dual
carriageway to all the places the hon. Member has listed.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, while
appreciating the effort the Ministry is making to alleviate the problem of
congestion in the City and bearing in mind what the Minister has said about a
consultant having been engaged, is he also aware of the fact that if you
address one section of the City without reference to the rest, then improvement
on one has the impact of generating traffic problems in another section? For
instance, Thika Road improvement and expansion is going to make this road
impassable as a result of traffic flow to the main road.
· Page 9 of Hansard 23.11.11P
Yes, Mr. Speaker, Sir.
We are alive to that situation; that as we improve one road, the congestion
increases on another road. In view of the limited financial resources available
to us, we cannot do all the roads at the same time. So, we have to go by way of
priority, taking into account the volume of traffic on each road. As I
indicated the other day, the traffic on Thika Road is the highest compared to
any other road. The next is Uhuru Highway and Outer Ring Road.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, in
other countries, when there is a problem like this, at least the public are
given an apology. When the rains came the other day, people stayed for over
five hours on that road. I do not know why he is praising these people because
they did not come out to say that they are sorry to Kenyans because they pay
taxes and the money is being wasted. My question to him is; who takes
responsibility for the wastage and who comes out to say sorry to Kenyans? When
are they going to make their drainages on this road?
· Mr. Speaker
Order! You are supposed
to ask one supplementary question at a time. You want to do three?
I was building up the
question. Who is building those drainages?
Mr. Speaker, Sir, the
drainages are done by the Ministry of Roads and the management of the drainages
after we have done them is the responsibility of the Ministry of Local
Government, that is, the City Council of Nairobi. They are the ones who as
supposed to manage waste in their locality. I want to urge the Ministry
concerned to assist me in that regard. By the way, I also want to add that even
members of the public contribute in stock piling waste in our drainage by
throwing litter anyhow. I want to urge members of the public that let us also
be responsible by caring about the placement of litter in our hands.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also
wish to join the rest in congratulating this Minister who is “hands-on” in his
work. However, what is he doing to ensure that when these roads are being done,
not only in Nairobi, but other parts of the country, contractors put road
furniture and all other necessary utilities? He knows very well that we were
with him on the Kitui-Mwingi Road. The contractor has completed the road, but
there is no signage, and this is the case all over, even in Nairobi. What is he
doing to ensure that that is enforced?
Mr. Speaker, Sir, that
is a very good question. Every road, on completion and before it is handed
over, the engineer in charge has to make sure that the road furniture is in
place. I want to assure this House that, that is always the case. As soon as we
have cleared away some “animals” - and allow me to say so - come and take them
away as scrap metal.
· Mr. Speaker
Are you, Mr. Minister,
by any chance, referring to Kenyans as animals?
· Hon. Members
Exactly!
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish
to withdraw!
· Mr. Speaker
Withdraw and apologize!
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I
withdraw and apologize. We placed a very beautiful notice on the Nakuru-Nairobi
Highway to warn motorists not to over speed. If you went there, that beautiful
signage has now been chopped and all of it taken away. That is the situation on
all our roads everywhere in the Republic.
· Page 10 of Hansard 23.11.11P
Mr. Speaker, Sir, the
loss the Minister has told us of Kshs2.8 million a day translates roughly to
Kshs1.1 billion a year. We find it very difficult to believe him because just a
few months ago, he was all over this place running helter skelter that we give
him our okay so that he could then offer concessioning for Uhuru Highway.
Nothing has happened! He has never bothered to come to the House to explain why
the concessioning project has not taken off. Could we believe him? Is he
telling us that he cannot put an earth road on the other side where they want
to make a dual carriage way, so that Nairobians can continue moving instead of
losing Kshs1.1 billion a year?
Mr. Speaker, Sir, even
doing an earth or gravel road needs money. The money I have is not adequate. I
want to thank this House because for the past two years, they have authorized
the Treasury to release to us over Kshs70 billion for our roads. However, that
is almost 20 per cent of what we have always requested for from the Exchequer
to do our roads.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, the
last time the Minister gave an undertaking on Jogoo Road, he honoured it. In
fact, I think all the other lazy Ministers, if there are any, who are sleeping
should follow his example.
· Mr. Speaker
Order, Mr. Mbuvi! You
cannot use the word “lazy” in reference to your colleagues in the House. That
is imputing improper motive that your colleagues are, in fact, lazy. You need a
Substantive Motion. Could you, please, withdraw the word “lazy” and apologize?
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I
withdraw and apologize!
· Mr. Speaker
Very well! Continue!
Mr. Speaker, Sir, my
question to the Minister is: Could he give a further undertaking that when the
construction works on the Outer Ring Road begin, we will not experience another
Syokimau demolition and that the Government will issue notices and compensate all
property owners whose properties will be affected by the extension of this
road, including the Mutindwa Market?
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will
not give an undertaking not to demolish structures on the road reserves. If
structures are on the road, bona fide road reserves, they will have to be
removed. My Ministry will, however, endavour to give notice to the illegal
occupants of the road reserves. We will even go further to place crosses on all
those structures which are on our road reserves. That is the better signal to
the owner of the building when they see a marking of the Ministry of Roads on
the wall or building or perimeter fence. So, I am sorry if there are members of
the public who have constructed structures on the road reserves, I will have no
choice, but to remove them to give the people of this country a much needed
road.
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