The residents of Turkana, West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet counties will from next year travel and transport their goods to Nakuru, Nairobi and other places without having to pass through Kitale and Eldoret.
The secretary to the County Development Implementation and Coordination Committee CDICC Timothy Kilimo said the government was keen on the completion of the Sh2.9 billion Iten-Nyaru road and the Nyaru-Kamwosor road as it will greatly reduce the distance to Nakuru and other towns.
Kilimo who is also the Director Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) said the road will join the Iten Cheptongei road connecting to the Kapsait-Kamatira road in West Pokot before heading to Lodwar.
Iten-Nyaru road will be completed by June next year while the Nyaru Kamwosor road, which connects Elgeyo Marakwet County with Baringo County is expected to be completed by November this year according to the resident engineer Franklin Kipyator.
Eng. Kipyator who is also the North Rift Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) Regional Director said the Iten-Nyaru road which was started in November 2016 was to be completed by May 2019.
The regional director told the (CDICC) that the extension was occasioned by the increase of the total kilometres being covered which rose from 54km to 76.4km.
“The Nyaru-Iten road which is being upgraded to bitumen standard covers 54km, we also have 10km of spur roads which will connect the main road to Kipsoen and Chepkorio Technical Training Institutes and a further 12.8 km of access roads including one to Kamariny stadium,” he said.
The resident engineer said the access roads to the various public institutions especially schools will have a huge impact to the community.
He said the major challenge in the construction of the Iten-Nyaru road was cash flow, but said they had advised the contractor M/s SCC International Engineering (K) Co. to look for alternative sources of funding as he awaits payment of the balances by the government.
The government has also started the maintenance of the Kapcherop-Kapyego-Chesongoch-Tot Road at a cost of sh.143 million shillings.
When complete, the road will open up the area and enable farmers who mainly practice potatoes farming to easily transport their produce to markets according to engineer Kipyator.
The road, he said is prone to landslides and therefore some of the major works will include stone pitching, gabion protection, culvert installation and drainage works among others.
By Alice Wanjiru
