The National Government Development-County Implementation, Coordination, and Management Committee (NGD-CICMC) in Nyandarua County has finalised the establishment of a potato cold storage facility in Ol Kalou town.
The cold storage facility that was earlier launched by President Dr. William Ruto in April this year has since been completed with the requisite equipment, awaiting farmers to take their produce to curb post-harvest losses.
The committee was chaired by Nyandarua West DCC Josephine Kihara was speaking after a tour of the facility to ascertain its readiness to start receiving potatoes from farmers. They were accompanied by the Chief Officer of Cooperatives, Charles Nderitu, from the Nyandarua County government.
Over 100 pallets and manual forklifts have already been installed, and the facility is now ready to store over 500 metric tonnes of potatoes.
The facility measures 1000 square metres, can hold any type of vegetable, and is expected to benefit over 140,000 households in the county that produce potatoes.
According to the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), the facility will help curb 33.3 per cent of post-harvest losses incurred by farmers annually in the region.
According to Ann Kuria, the MSEA County Head in Nyandarua, the facility has adopted two models at the moment but is hopeful to settle for a single model that will ensure the smooth operations of the facility.
“We are working on aligning how the operationalization of the cold storage facility will take place. The entire objective of this facility was to ensure we curb the post-harvest losses in Nyandarua,” said Ms. Kuria.
On her side, Mukami Matemo, the Government Delivery Services Head in Nyandarua County, said that the committee is mandated to ensure all the ongoing projects from the National government are completed within the set timelines and operationalized.
“This is our second meeting, and we are visiting various projects by the national government in order to assess their continuity and completion on time,” said Mukami.
The committee also visited the new county headquarters under construction and got a briefing from the main contractor on its progress.
The county headquarters is 70% financed by the national government and 30% by the county government.
The project is estimated to cost 449 million, with the contactor on site being the third since its inception.
Later on, the committee also visited the Kagaa Police Housing project within the county, which has been under construction but has not been completed due to some administrative issues.
The committee directed the State Department of Housing, Public Works, and National Police Service to work with a contractor and come up with a conclusive report that the committee will escalate to the region so that the remaining 10% component of the project is completed.
Once this is done, the facility can be handed over in 3 months for occupation by the police.
By Antony Mwangi
