The government and the developers of Tatu City Development in Kiambu have pledged to enhance their cooperation in a bid to achieve and realize President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big 4 Agenda.
Kiambu County Commissioner Wilson Wanyanga who chairs the County Development Implementation and Coordination Committee (CDICC) in Kiambu assured of continued support by the government in the provision of security and infrastructure to the City to create an enabling environment for investors.
Tatu City is a 5,000-acre of land being developed by private developers and gearing towards being a one stop shop encompassing homes for more than 250,000 residents, shopping malls, schools and also an industrial park.
“As a government, we have a responsibility of ensuring security and currently, we have Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit CIPU officers who are stationed here permanently,” Wanyanga said during a tour to the Tatu City together with the CDICC committee members.
The chairman described Tatu City as a crucial economic zone for the county and the nation at large saying that security was a key element to attract investors.
Tatu City is Kenya’s first operational Special Economic Zone, providing reduced corporate taxes, zero-rated VAT and import duty exemptions, among other benefits.
In terms of Infrastructure, the chairman mentioned that the government will also work together to ensure all roads within and leading to the Tatu City are of topmost quality.
“The government will work with the developer to upgrade the road infrastructure in and around the city and for the roads that are under the National government and County agencies, we are going to sit down with Tatu City and see how to engage and bring the three roads up to standard,” the CDICC chairman reiterated.
Wanyanga further said that the government will see to it that Tatu City gets supplied with water, saying that for the city to attract investors, there must be clean water, sewerage systems and adequate security.
The County Commissioner further promised that in order for Tatu City to become a one stop shop for investors, the government will assist and make sure services are being given at convenient places and accessible.
“We’re going to have a one stop shop and we’re going to assist in ensuring that staff and various technical officers are deployed in a central place within the area so that investors can get all their paperwork done in one place as opposed to hopping from one place to another,” he promised.
Wanyanga lauded Tatu City implementers for the development so far achieved adding the project had attracted major investors from within and beyond and created job opportunities for the residents.
“They have also gone out of their way through corporate social responsibility and are assisting in terms of meals for the public schools within Tatu City which is a sure way of assisting the government to realize the Big Four Agenda,’’ the administrator added.
Preston Mendenhall, the development’s Executive Vice President on his part thanked the government for recognizing the development of the area in terms of critical Infrastructure and also for providing security to the area.
Mendenhall appreciated the government through the CDICC for agreeing to cooperate on road infrastructure to improve access to the city that is expected to be a hub for manufacturing and affordable homes.
“Currently we have 37 kilometers of roads intersecting with important County and National roads demonstrating how we interact with the road authorities,” Mendenhall said.
Tatu City currently boasts of a sustainable infrastructure in terms of roads, power, water, waste management and ICT: a 33MVA power supply for the industrial park, water tanks with 10 million litre water capacity and solar energy provision which provides optimal value for the residents and business owners.
By Wangari Ndirangu
