Murang’a county government is on course in the construction of a total of 12-kilometre roads within eight local trading centres.
In the programme dubbed Smart City, the county administration is targeting to improve streets and roads within the towns and provide better conditions of doing business.
In the current financial year, the towns earmarked to get improved infrastructure include Ithanga, Kenol, Zabka, Mukuyu, Kanyenyaini, Kamune, Gacharage and Muthithi.
Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata said the programme is aimed at supporting the business community to conduct their economic activities in a better environment.
The roads, he said, will make accessibility of some business premises easier thus providing a fair competition.
“Shops and stalls which are behind main streets will be easily accessed after the streets connecting them get tarmacked and installed with street lights. The smart city programme aims to provide better working conditions to our people,” Kang’ata said as he launched the programme at Mukuyu market.
In the last financial year, the programme benefited eight other towns including Kangari, Kiriaini, Gatura, Kabati, Gakira, Kahatia, Maragua and Murang’a town.
He promised to tarmac streets in all towns within the county before the end of his five-year term.
“Improvement of infrastructure in our trading centres is crucial in growing the local economy and the county administration is committed to ensure streets and roads within the towns are upgraded,” he stated.
The governor observed that apart from upgrading the roads, the programme also targets to install street lights so as to ensure traders could operate at night.
“The project will also cater for drainage services as currently many of our towns have poor drainage systems. Construction of markets is also being implemented in some of the centres,” he noted.
The project, Kang’ata divulged, is funded by monies collected as levies from various services offered by his administration.
“The projects of tarmacking of roads within local towns are funded by your taxes. The county government since it assumed power in 2022, we employed strategies to effectively collect revenue and the monies have helped in implementation of various development projects,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the governor underscored the subsidy programme the county government is implementing in the mango value chain sector.
He said currently mango farmers from lower parts of the county are getting Sh23 per kilo of mango. This is Sh16 offered by contracted buyers and Sh7 given by the county government as subsidy.
“The subsidy programme is helping mango farmers to benefit hugely from their produce. We linked the farmers with several buyers and we also topped up some money as subsidy to ensure the sector is lucrative,” he added.
By Bernard Munyao
