Mathioya National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) has kicked off the rehabilitation of local feeder roads before the on-set of the El-nino rains.
The area MP, Edwin Mugo, has said 15 feeder roads with an accumulative length of about 70 kilometres and cutting across the three wards are earmarked to be upgraded at a cost of Sh. 140 million.
Commissioning the project at Thuita area on Friday, Mugo noted that the project is financed by the local NG-CDF and being implemented by the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
He said the rehabilitated works, which include putting marram and grading, are expected to be done within a period of three weeks before the onset of short rains.
“We have embarked to put marram and rehabilitate feeder roads within Kiru, Kamacharia, and Gitugi wards before the rains begin.
“Upgrading the roads will ensure farmers are not affected during the rains as they deliver their produce to markets,” he added.
Mathioya, Mugo said, mainly relies on agriculture, and poor roads, especially during rainy seasons, may disadvantage farmers when delivering their produce to markets and cooperative societies.
“In this constituency, farmers rely on coffee, tea, and dairy. Failure to rehabilitate the roads will mean a big challenge for farmers to take their coffee, milk, and tea to the collection centres. We hope the contractors given the work will work within the given time framework,” he added.
The legislator further called on the contractors to consider providing local youths with employment opportunities, saying this would help them earn a livelihood.
“More than 70 per cent of the employment opportunities should be given to local people. We requested the resident engineer to ensure youths from the area are given priority,” he noted.
Mugo, meanwhile, asked farmers to take advantage of the expected enhanced rains to increase their produce.
“Farmers should consider investing more and taking advantage of the expected rains to increase production. In the past, coffee production had gone down, but with the expected rains, farmers can increase the yields.” Noted the MP.
A section of local residents welcomed the project, saying most of the feeder roads were in bad shape.
Led by James Njuguna, they asked for close monitoring to ensure the contractors do quality work, especially this time when the area is expected to receive heavy rains.
“We want the upgrading of the roads to be of high standards. Poorly done roads will be easily washed away by rainwater,” observed Njuguna.
By Bernard Munyao
