The National Development Implementation Committee (NDIC) has affirmed its commitment to unlocking teething problems facing government projects and programmes in the Coast and North Eastern regions.
The assurance was given during a meeting of the NDIC sub-committee in charge of Governance and Public Administration in Mombasa, chaired by Principal Secretary (PS) for Internal Security and National Administration Dr Raymond Omollo and attended by Solicitor General Hon. Shadrack Mose, PS Dr Idris Dokota (Cabinet Affairs), Terry Mbaika (Devolution) Patrick Mariro (Defence), Veronica Nduva (Performance and Delivery).
Also present were Head of Government Delivery Services Agnes Odhiambo, and Regional Commissioners Rhoda Onyancha, and John Otieno for Coast and North Eastern respectively.
“We shall focus on government programmes that are going on both in the Coast and North Eastern regions so that we are able to unlock the bottlenecks that exist in those programmes and projects for the citizenry to reap maximum benefits from those programmes,” said PS Dr Omollo.
The team later visited the Shimoni Fishing Port in Kwale, Kenya Shipyard Limited and the Miritini Rehabilitation Project in Mombasa.
“We picked on a few ongoing projects that we needed to visit and have an assessment and at the same time appreciate the challenges that those projects are undergoing,” said Dr Omollo.
The team first visited the Sh2.6 billion Shimoni Fishing Project being implemented by the Kenya Ports Authority seeking to enhance fish production and improve the livelihood of fisher folk in Kwale and Coast region.
Dr Omollo said the industrial fish port project will address the trade challenges as the country will be able to attract big fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean which currently prefers Port Victoria in Seychelles.
The construction is gathering pace, the works involve the expansion of the existing jetty to measure 150m long, the construction of a warehouse with a fish processing plant, cold storage and ice-making plant, port access road, and a power substation including a 500KVA generator.
A good warehouse is also under construction at the existing jetty to serve the general public.
The Sub-Committee later toured the Kenya Shipyard Limited (KSL) an agency within the Ministry of Defence that offers ship maintenance, refit, overhaul and repair.
“KSL focuses on supporting the vessels both the naval, shipping, and transport vessels not just in the oceans but on our inland waters as well,” said Dr Omollo.
The committee inspected the constructions of a multipurpose facility and workshops at the Miritini Rehabilitation Center at a cost of Sh87 million and Sh115 million respectively being carried out by the National Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA).
The facility, Dr Omollo says, plays a pivotal role in the rehabilitation of Kenyans who were affected by drugs and substance abuse. The committee promised to ensure the road leading to the facility is tarmacked.
The team winded up their project tour by visiting the government chemist that supports forensic laboratories and investigations to deal with drugs and also handles various pharmaceutical products. The sub-committee says they will enhance the capacity of the chemist and make it more efficient.
By Sadik Hassan
