Rehabilitation of the Sh598 million Murang’a-Kiriaini road, which had stalled for some years is set to resume after the government released funds for completion of the project.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro and his Mathioya counterpart Edwin Mugo led officials from KeNHA to launch rehabilitation of the 20-kilometer section of the road.
Rehabilitation of the major road, which links Murang’a and Nyeri counties, commenced early 2019 under the management of Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
By then, the contractor assigned the road rehabilitated about 5 kilometers from Murang’a town to the Mugeka shopping center, before the project stalled due to lack of funds.
Local residents have been decrying the poor state of the road leading to frequent demonstrations and forcing motorists plying the road to use long alternative routes.
During the relaunching of the project Thursday, Nyoro observed that the government had since transferred the road from the management of KeRRA to KeNHA saying the move has seen another contractor being granted tender to rehabilitate the remaining part.
He said the new contractor, Territorial Works (K) Limited has promised to complete the works within a period of 18 months, instead of the stipulated duration of two years.
“Transferring the road from KeRRA to be managed by KeNHA will see the standard of the road being uplifted as the width of the road will be expanded and throughout the year funds will be allocated for its maintenance,” said Nyoro.
The road which is the gateway to Nyeri County from Murang’a, Kiambu, and Nairobi counties, cuts across Kiharu and Mathioya constituencies and is among the oldest roads in Murang’a.
“Rehabilitation of this road will boost economic activities in the region and enable investors who have shied away from investing in towns, along the route to put up businesses, thus creating employment opportunities,” he added.
On his part, Mugo lauded the government for releasing the funds saying people from the area had suffered for a long due to the poor state of the road.
“Some people had even closed their business ventures since the cost of transport had gone high. A good road will above all spur agricultural activities as produce will easily get to markets,” he said.
Mugo asked the contractor to consider giving priority to local young people when employing workers.
“I appeal to contractors to provide employment to youths from this area. This will help in mitigating unemployment in Mathioya and Kiharu constituencies,” added Mugo.
KeNHA central regional director Engineer Francis Kimata assured local residents that the rehabilitation of the road will be hastened, acknowledging that users of the road have suffered for a long time, since many sections of the road were full of potholes.
“We assure that the contractor assigned to the rehabilitation works will do a commendable job and my appeal to local residents is to be patient. The work will not take more than 18 months,” reiterated Kimata.
By Bernard Munyao
